Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Louisville bank gunman: 'This person murdered my friend'

Watch Kaitlan Collins’ full interview with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear tonight at 9 p.m. ET on CNN.

CNN  — 

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Wednesday he “can’t imagine” what the family of the man who killed five people, including a friend of the governor, in Louisville on Monday is feeling.

Beshear’s comments, made during an emotional interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins which was his first since the mass shooting, came after the 911 call placed by the gunman’s mother was released.

“This person murdered my friend. But still, I can’t imagine what his parents must be feeling right now,” Beshear said.

The call by the mother of the gunman, 25-year-old Old National Bank employee Connor Sturgeon, was among a number of 911 calls released to the public Wednesday detailing the panic and fear during the mass shooting that left five dead and three hospitalized.

Relaying details from her son’s roommate, she said her son “apparently left a note” and expressed her shock and confusion.

“My son might be (redacted) has a gun and heading to the Old National on Main Street here in Louisville,” she said in the call. “This is his mother. I’m so sorry, I’m getting details secondhand. I’m learning about it now. Oh my Lord.”

In the interview with CNN, Beshear discussed his friend Tommy Elliott, a bank executive who was among the victims of Monday’s shooting. He said he wanted his friend to be remembered as a loving father and husband.

“Man, he had a great smile. His eyes lit up. Loved life. Was always into something. Trying to make the city a better place, he was just always into something,” he said.

Elliott, the bank’s senior vice president, had chaired Beshear’s 2019 inaugural committee and was a well-known figure in Kentucky Democratic politics.

“He was trying to plan for me for when I’m done being governor, which was something that I hoped we could eventually plan for together,” Beshear said. “An amazing human being, a loving dad.”

Beshear said he was the one who called Elliott’s wife to inform her that her husband had been killed.

“She deserved to know,” he said.

Beshear explained that he’d gone to Old National Bank “immediately” after learning – while in the governor’s office in Frankfort – that the mass shooting had occurred at the bank where his friend worked – and where the governor is a customer.

“I knew it would be hours before others could call her. And I thought she deserved to know, and we’re close right now to where I made that call,” he said.

“I’ve been governor during this pandemic, I’ve been governor during tornadoes and floods and -45 degree windchills and everything else. And we’ve lost a lot of people during those,” he said. “But calling your friend’s wife who is also your friend to tell her that her husband is gone is among the hardest things I’ve ever done.”