Victims of Louisville mass shooting were all bank employees: ‘Our hearts are heavy, they are broken’

The five people killed in Monday’s massacre at Old National Bank in Louisville, Kentucky, were all company executives, according to reports and their LinkedIn pages.

Local cops identified the victims as Joshua Barrick, 40, Deanna Eckert, 57, Thomas Elliot, 63, Juliana Farmer, 45, and James Tutt, 64.

“Our hearts are with our team members, their families and the Louisville community,” the bank said on its website.

The employees were meeting in a first-floor conference room before the bank opened Monday morning when gunman Connor Sturgeon burst in and started blasting away with a rifle. Nine others were wounded, including responding rookie officer Nickolas Wilt, 26. Wilt underwent surgery for a gunshot wound to the head and was in critical condition Monday.

Joshua Barrick, 40

Joshua Barrick was a veteran of the banking business and a senior vice president of commercial real estate banking at Old National, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported. Before coming to work at Old National just under a year ago, he had worked at WesBanco, the newspaper said. In 2020, he was named one of “20 People to Know in Banking” by local publication Louisville Business First.

The pastor of Holy Trinity Church, where Barrick was a parishioner, said the victim was married and a father of two children who attended the church’s school.

“Our hearts are heavy, they are broken, and we are searching for answers,” Rev. Shayne Duvall wrote in a Facebook post.

Thomas Elliot, 63

Thomas K. “Tommy” Elliott, a senior vice president at Old National, was a Democratic Party stalwart who raised and donated funds for the organzation and counted both former Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer and current Gov. Andy Beshear as friends. Former Gov. Steve Beshear was also a friend.

Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday called Elliott “one of my closest friends,” describing how he had mentored him over the years and helped launch his legal and political career.

Fischer had known Elliott for 40 years and said that the dedicated family man left behind a wife, two daughters and two stepdaughters.

Also close to Elliott was Lonnie Ali, widow of famed boxer Muhammad Ali. The Louisville native remembered Elliott’s sense of humor and community commitment.

“Tommy was such a warm, wonderful, funny, kind guy,” she said. “Just the sweetest person. And it’s just such a huge loss, not just to his friends and family, but to the community. Because that’s what Tommy was about. Tommy was about community.”

Elliott had also served in the past on the board of the Baptist Health medical complex. President Larry Gray remembered his dedication, passionate advocacy, and insistence on “accountability and grace” in his dealings.

“He was forward-thinking, always focused on the next steps to move Baptist Health forward,” Grey told the Courier-Journal. “He was a friend to many who believed in making our community a better place to live and thrive.”

Juliana Farmer, 45

Farmer was a delighted grandmother of four, soon to be five, the Courier-Journal reported. She was a loan analyst with Old National, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Her uncle, Michael Williams, wrote on Facebook that she had only recently relocated to Louisville, the Courier-Journal reported.

“She told me she was moving to Louisville, she had a great job opportunity,” he was quoted as saying. “Now we’re mourning you losing your life at the job. I’m just hurt.”

James Tutt, 64

Tutt had nearly 40 years’ experience in banking, more than 30 of it in commercial banking, according to a lengthy bio on his LinkedIn page. He had been a commercial real estate market executive for the southern region at Old National Bank since 2015.

He also taught finance at Ball State University and the University of Indianapolis and served on the Commercial Real Estate Faculty of the Risk Management Association in Philadelphia, his bio said.

In addition, Tutt was on the board of the Oldham LaGrange Development Authority, overseeing the development of a 1,000-acre Kentucky business park, from 2011 through 2022, some of that time as chairman.

“He added a tremendous amount of insights as we went about developing our office park in LaGrange,” Oldham County Judge Executive David Voegele told the Courier-Journal. “He’s a very high quality, well-thought-of individual … It’s just sickening to hear what’s happened.”

Tutt’s Facebook page showed him doting on grandchildren.

Deana Eckert, 57

Eckert died Monday evening, about 12 hours after the shooting, police announced. She had been among those hospitalized after the attack, the Courier-Journal reported.

Eckert was an executive administrative officer at the bank, according to her LinkedIn profile.

She had worked at the bank since 2016 and assumed her last role in April 2021, her profile said.

With News Wire Services