Cop who helped stop Louisville shooter on ‘path to recovery’

The police officer who was shot in the head while responding to a mass shooting at a Lousiville bank has been taken off the ventilator and is “on the correct path to recovery,” authorities said Monday.

Police Officer Nickolas Wilt — a 26-year-old rookie cop who immediately rushed toward the gunfire inside the Old National Bank as gunman Connor Sturgeon fired a barrage of bullets — is showing signs of improvement, the Louisville Metro Police Department said.

“We are happy to announce that Officer Wilt is officially off the ventilator and all other life-sustaining equipment,” the LMPD wrote on Facebook. “Additionally, he has shown neurological improvement and is able to follow some commands.”

Though he has made significant progress, he is still dealing with a few infections and has a long road to recovery, the LMPD said.

“Unfortunately, Officer Wilt still has pneumonia and other lung complications,” the department noted.

“His progress to this point is remarkable, especially when compared to where he was just two weeks ago. Officer Wilt is entering the ‘long haul’ of his recovery, which will undoubtedly be difficult, but he remains strong and determined.”

The rookie cop’s doctors are discussing moving him into Neuro Rehab within the next week, which would be a significant milestone in his recovery, according to the LMPD’s post.

During a procedure on Monday, his doctors also determined that the bullet is not a threat to Wilt’s brain or its blood vessels.

“According to the doctor, the bullet is in a crucial area but for this type of injury the damage is minimal,” the department said.

Wilt had only graduated from the police academy a week before the targeted bloodbath that left five people dead and injured eight.

Wilt and fellow LMPD officer Cory Galloway were the first to arrive at the bank as the gunman opened fire on the first floor of the building. The officers exchanged gunfire with the gunman and bodycam footage showed that Galloway fired the shots that killed him.

Wilt was shot in the head during the exchange while Galloway was grazed in the shoulder.

“I just swore him in,” LMPD Interim Chief Jaquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said at a press conference directly after the shooting.

“One of the worst moments in a police chief’s tenure [is] to hear that any of your officers have been injured,” she added.

“It rots my world to have anyone injured and losing their life.”