Louisville cop Nickolas Wilt, shot in head during bank shooting, was just sworn in

The brave cop who is clinging to life following Monday’s mass shooting in Louisville, Kentucky, had only graduated from the police academy just over a week ago, his chief said.

Louisville Metro Police Department cop Nickolas Wilt, 26, was among the officers who ran toward the gunfire inside the Old National Bank Monday morning as 23-year-old gunman, Connor Sturgeon, was unleashing a hail of bullets.

Wilt was shot in the head as police took down Sturgeon following a brief shootout, LMPD Interim Chief Jaquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel said.

He was rushed to the nearby University of Louisville Hospital where he underwent brain surgery and remains in a critical but stable condition.

Wilt had only just graduated from the police academy on March 31 and was in his second week on the job, Villaroel said.

“I just swore him in,” the chief said at a press conference.

“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.”

The department later tweeted out a photo of the injured cop, saying: “Officer Nickolas Wilt, a new officer to the LMPD, ran towards the gunfire today to save lives. He remains in critical condition after being shot in the head.”

The photo appeared to show him at his swearing in ceremony alongside the police chief and Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg.

Wilt was among the nine injured in the mass shooting.

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Four bank executives were shot dead, including Tommy Elliott, 63, Jim Tutt, 64, Joshua Barrick, 40, and Juliana Farmer, 45.

Deputy police chief Paul Humphrey had earlier said the actions of the responding officers undoubtedly saved lives.

“This is a tragic event,” he said. “But it was it was the heroic response of officers that made sure that no more people were more seriously injured than what happened.”