The shooting happened on the first floor of the Old National Bank on East Main Street, near Louisville Slugger Field and Waterfront Park.

[10] After the first shots were fired, the shooter began livestreaming the shooting on Instagram until he was killed by officers from the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD).

A woman who was at the intersection at the start of the shooting recounted that she saw a man lying near the entrance to a hotel before hearing shots and speeding off to a safer location.

[14] Around 8:45 a.m., the LMPD confirmed that officers had exchanged gunfire with the shooter, who died of five police-inflicted bullet wounds approximately five minutes after the police arrived.

They were: Josh Barrick, 40; Deana Eckert, 57 (who died in the hospital the same day);[17] Tommy Elliott, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and Jim Tutt, 64.

[29][8] Prior to the shooting, Sturgeon messaged one of his friends stating that he felt suicidal and added that he wanted to kill as many people in the bank as he could, according to a police dispatcher.

One had the caption, "I could burn this whole place down," another featured a gif of a scene from Star Wars: The Force Awakens where character Kylo Ren says "I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it",[31] and the last post before the attack said, "They won’t listen to words or protests.

[32] Law enforcement sources said that Sturgeon left notes, one at his home and one on him, saying that part of his plan was to show how easily a person with mental illness could legally acquire a firearm in the United States.

[37] The LMPD blocked streets and conducted a joint search of Sturgeon's home in the Camp Taylor neighborhood near Interstate 264, located 7.4 miles (11.9 km) south of the bank.

The LMPD report documented the shooter's motive as:[39] Connor Sturgeon writes his "goals" to "tell my story" and "impact change - gun access."

[46] President Joe Biden offered his condolences to the victims of the shooting and pushed for gun reform from Senate Republicans.

He had made similar comments shortly after the Nashville school shooting, saying he had exhausted what he can do through executive action and that Congress needed to act.