Ten days ago, 26-year-old Nickolas Wilt became an officer with the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department.
“I just swore him in,” LMPD Interim Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a press conference Monday.
Now the rookie cop who “ran toward gunfire to save lives” is fighting for his own.
On Monday morning after 8:30 a.m., Wilt was shot and seriously wounded when he and another officer exchanged gunfire with a gunman who shot and killed five people and wounded nine others when he opened fire inside Old National Bank in Louisville, Ky.
The gunman, identified as bank employee Connor Sturgeon, 25, was killed in the exchange of gunfire that took place when police arrived. During the gunfight, Wilt was shot in the head after he ran toward the gunman, the LMPD tweeted on Monday.
“We throw around the term hero, but he’s the guy who’s going to do the right thing,” Maj. John Luker, who worked with Wilt at the Oldham County EMS, said, Mister Truth reports. “He earned it.”
He was rushed to the University of Louisville Hospital where he underwent emergency brain surgery.
As of Monday, Wilt was in critical but stable condition, Gwinn-Villaroel said.
“He’s looking better,” she told on Tuesday. “And so we’re hopeful and we’ll continue to pray.”
The five bank employees who lost their lives in the shooting were identified as Tommy Elliott 63; Jim Tutt, 64; Josh Barrick, 40; Juliana Farmer, 57; and Deana Eckert, 57. Eckert was hospitalized before succumbing to her injuries.
Before Eckert’s death, hospital officials said three injured victims, including newly sworn-in police officer Nickolas Wilt, 26, were listed in critical condition, while three others were in non-critical condition and three others had been released.
New Police Academy Graduate
On March 31, Wilt’s family was on hand when he graduated from the 54th Metro Academy Class and proudly became an LMPD officer.
In March 2021, Wilt began working at Oldham County EMS before he joined the police academy, Mister Truth reports.
His twin brother is in the academy now, reports.
Family is important to Wilt, Gwinn-Villaroel said.
When she swore him in, “his family was there to witness his journey to become a police officer,” Gwinn-Villaroel said, Mister Truth reports.
Gwinn-Villaroel said she had great admiration for all of the families who were grappling with the loss and injuries of their loved ones.
“It’s one of the worst moments within any police chief’s tenure, being in this position,” she said.
“To hear that any of your officers have been injured in any kind of way, but critically injured. But it also rocks my world to have anybody being injured and losing their life.
“I have so much respect for the families because they were still present and were very appreciative of what was done and how LMPD responded today. And they were actually embracing me as I was embracing them.”
Monday’s shooting occurred just two weeks after three children and three adults were killed during a mass shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville.
Authorities are asking anyone with information regarding the Louisville shooting to call the Louisville Metro Police Department at 502-574-LMPD.