LOUISVILLE, Ky., (WDRB) -- A Louisville Metro Police officer is in critical but stable condition after being shot in the head by a gunman Monday morning inside a bank building in downtown Louisville.

Officer Nickolas Wilt, 26, just graduated from the police academy March 31, interim Chief Jackie Gwinn-Villaroel said at a news conference.

"The next few days are important and very critical for Nickolas's recovery," she said, adding he had come out of brain surgery at University of Louisville Hospital. 

"This will be a long, complex investigation."

Wilt, a 2016 graduate of Oldham County High School, has only been with the department since October 2022, according to his LinkedIn page.

Old National Bank Shooting

Before becoming an officer, Wilt worked for Oldham County Emergency Medical Services, the La Grange Fire Department, Oldham dispatch and Henry County EMS.

He also is still employed by Baptist Health La Grange EMS on an "as-needed basis," according to a press release from the hospital. 

"We are grateful for the heroic acts of Nick and other first responders who no doubt saved lives today," Baptist Health said in the statement. 

Mayor Craig Greenberg said he handed Wilt his police academy graduation diploma less than two weeks ago.

"Our city and so many from around the nation are praying for Officer Wilt's strength and healing," Greenberg tweeted. "His heroic actions exemplify the best of law enforcement."

A quote on Wilt's LinkedIn page says: "The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit."

Gwinn-Villaroel said, "I just swore him in and his family was there to witness his journey to become a police officer."

Wilt's father, Raymond, who received the Bronze Star as a Staff Sergeant in the Iraq War, just passed away on Feb. 8 at the age of 55.

LMPD officer Nickolas Wilt was shot in the head during a mass shooting.

Nick Wilt has two brothers, according to his father's obituary.

Wilt was one of two officers injured when a shooter came into the bank around 8:30 at 333 E. Main St. – at the Preston Pointe building near Louisville Slugger Field. The second officers was released from University of Louisville. A third officer was grazed by a bullet, police said. 

Five people, including the gunman, Connor Sturgeon, were killed.

Nine people were admitted to the hospital, with three requiring surgery by the trauma unit, three kept for non-life threatening injuries and three discharged, according to Dr. Jason Smith of U of L Health.

Sturgeon, a 23-year-old white male, was employed at the bank. He was armed with a rifle, police said.

This story may be updated. 

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