LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – When Louisville Metro Police Officer Nickolas Wilt ran toward a barrage of gunfire from a downtown office building on April 10, he was armed only with a handgun.
The man inside the Old National Bank lobby had an AR-15 that he used to kill five people and wound several more — and spray bullets at Wilt and his partner as they approached.
So why was Wilt — who was shot in the head and is in critical condition — outgunned by 25-year-old bank employee Connor Sturgeon?
Louisville police face more hurdles to get a long rifle for on-the-job use than a mass shooter like Sturgeon, who legally bought his weapon four days earlier in a short transaction at a local gun dealer.
Under Louisville police policy, Wilt wasn’t given a long rifle by the department when he started. Instead, officers must buy the weapon themselves — and that can be costly for a young officer, with the guns generally selling for more than $1,000.
Officers also must complete 40 hours of rifle training and have their weapon approved by the department based on several guidelines.
Upon arriving at the scene on E. Main Street near Louisville Slugger Field, Wilt’s partner, Officer Cory Galloway, grabbed his personally-owned long rifle out of the cruiser. Galloway ultimately used it to shoot and kill Sturgeon.
Louisville Metro Police Officer Nick Wilt
The get-your-own approach to buying rifles is something Louisville police need to change, according to the Fraternal Order of Police’s River City Lodge 614, which represents Metro officers.
“We think the department procuring rifles for officers is a must,” FOP president Ryan Nichols said.
In an interview with WDRB News, Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said the department is rolling out a long rifle program that will move away from officers having to purchase their own.
“I never want an officer to feel they are outgunned,” Humphrey said. “It is an intimidating situation any time they are shot at. It’s particularly intimidating if you are shot at with a rifle. We want to make sure the odds are as much in your favor” as possible.
When former Chief Erika Shields started in January 2021, she decided officers should not have to purchase their own weapons, Humphrey said. In October 2022, LMPD stopped requiring officers to buy their own handguns.
The cost of the new weapons and training equipment is about $1 million. When officers leave the force, they must return the weapons.
Humphrey said about half of the long rifles needed have been obtained and will be issued in the next few weeks, including to new recruits.
It is unclear when all officers will be equipped with long rifles, although Humphrey said the goal is within the next year. One problem, he added, is that LMPD does not have its own practice range necessary for the 40 hours of training.
Currently, officers must go to Indiana to train. The Metro Council approved $6 million in the current city budget for buying land for long rifle and other training.
FOP leader Nichols said all of this is a “great step the city is taking” although it was unfortunately not available for Wilt.
“That’s another example how officers can find themselves severely outgunned when they don’t have suitable tools, such as a rifle,” he said.
LMPD body camera footage from the April 10 mass shooting in Louisville.
It is unclear exactly why Wilt didn’t have a long rifle. He had completed the training. But he had just graduated from the academy March 31 and was on his fourth shift on the morning of the bank shooting.
“Maybe he didn't have the money,” LMPD spokesman Sgt. Matt Sanders said. “Maybe he didn't think he’d need one. Maybe he thought a shotgun would be good enough or what? I don't know.”
While officers are equipped with a shotgun, a rifle is more accurate, especially from a distance, has more ammunition and makes it less likely a shooter will have an advantage in weaponry.
“I mean, we’re constantly playing catch-up with the bad guys,” Sanders said.
When asked for comment, the Sturgeon family reiterated its continued concern over the ease and speed with which Connor Sturgeon apparently obtained the rifle, and noted that "common sense gun reform" is long overdue.
An 'arms race'
It is not that unusual for police departments to require officers to buy their own long rifles and other equipment, according to a review of other agencies.
In Lexington, for example, the police department has a limited number of rifles but most officers have to buy their own rifle, if they want one, and undergo training.
In Houston, according to one news report, officers have to buy their own guns, ammunition handcuffs and flashlights, among other necessities after graduating from the academy. They are eventually given a $2,000 yearly equipment allowance.
But as more shooting situations involve AR-15’s and other long rifles, more departments are equipping their officers with the same weaponry.
With both mass killings and open-carry laws on the rise, “it’s (a) credible argument to say we have to engage in an arms race because we are outgunned,” said Dr. Pete Kraska, a professor of justice studies at Eastern Kentucky University told the Washington Post in March.
WDRB contacted a half-dozen neighboring departments similar in size to Louisville asking about their policies, but only a few responded.
The Memphis Police Department provides rifles to officers once they pass certain qualifications, according to a spokesperson.
The Cincinnati Police Department keeps rifles in the vehicles of all officers who are qualified, but officers must purchase their own rifle if they want to take it home.
It’s been widely reported that the Uvalde Police Department concluded its officers were outmatched when responding to a shooter with an AR-15 at Robb Elementary School in Texas in 2022, at least partly causing the lengthy delay before law enforcement went into the building.
In this photo from surveillance video provided by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District via the Austin American-Statesman, authorities respond to the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Tuesday, May 24, 2022. (Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District/Austin American-Statesman via AP)
The Texas Tribune reported that police in other mass shootings also hesitated to confront gunmen armed with AR-15-style rifles.
Both Wilt and Galloway were praised for immediately running to confront the shooter, even as bullets rained down on them and they couldn’t immediately see the shooter because of mirrored windows on the building.
In all, 13 people were killed or injured in the Louisville shooting.
Deputy Chief Humphrey said that while he wished Wilt had a long rifle, the outcome may have been the same.
Still, Humphrey said he understands the optics of an officer having to go through a more difficult process in acquiring a long rile than a mass shooter.
“I can absolutely understand why people are shocked and appalled by how easily a person with mental health issues can buy a gun and while there might be some barriers to an officer having the same weapon with the same capabilities,” he said, adding that there are legislative issues involved. “However, we want to make sure the officers we put on the street are trained to a higher standard to know when and how to use” those weapons,.
Humphrey said it’s crucial that officers be outfitted with these weapons as they graduate from the police academy.
“The reality is that these weapons are on the street,” he said, “and we are the group that has the responsibility and the duty to protect people.”
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