LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Ten days after graduating from the Louisville Metro Police Training Academy, Officer Nick Wilt was riding alongside his partner, Office Cory Galloway were on a morning patrol when the call came over dispatch.

Around 8:30 a.m. April 10, 2023, 911 calls flooded Louisville's downtown call center as Connor Sturgeon, a 25-year-old former employee of Old National Bank, had opened fire inside the bank's Main Street offices.

Wilt — working just his fourth shift as a police officer — was driving as he and Galloway pulled up around the corner from the Preston Pointe building. They both grabbed their weapons and ran up the side steps.

They ran into the gunfire, not knowing what awaited above.

"I'll never forget the day that (Nick's brother) Zach texted me and told me Nick was on that scene," said Alex Wilt, Nick's brother. "And then, not even five minutes later, I got the call."

Wilt was shot in the head at the top of the stairs off Main Street. Galloway shot and killed Sturgeon several minutes later, at which point emergency crews rushed to Wilt's side and got him in an ambulance.

He was rushed to UofL Hospital and wouldn't return home for months.

'He was never nervous'

That day changed the city of Louisville — and the lives of the Wilt family — forever.

"After I saw the video the first time they showed us in the hospital, the first thing I said is 'Look, his hands aren't shaking,'" said Jennifer Wilt, Nick's mother. "He was never nervous."

Sturgeon shot and killed five bank employees: Josh Barrick, 40, a senior vice president; Deana Eckert, 57, an executive administrative officer; Tommy Elliott, 63, also a senior vice president; Juliana Farmer, 45, a loan analyst; and Jim Tutt Jr., 64, a commercial real estate market executive.

Eight others, including Wilt and another LMPD officer, were shot and hurt.

By the time it was over, the gunman took the lives of five innocent people, and injured several others.

"We've asked him (what happened) and he says he does not remember," Jennifer Wilt said. "In the hospital, he did tell Zach he did remember. He thought that somebody was still after him."

Rushing to the scene, putting his own life on the line and eliminating the threat. Nick Wilt is the definition of a hero.

"And I've talked to him about that," Jennifer Wilt said. "I said 'You know you ran straight in.' He's like 'That's what we do.' He said 'We have to interfere.' I said 'You saved lives because you did that. You distracted the person who was committing that crime.' And he said 'That's what we do.'"

'He's starting to laugh'

Surrounded by his mother and brothers, Nick Wilt spent the next several months recovering at UofL Hospital and the Frazier Rehabilitation Institute.

"He is aware of what happened," Jennifer Wilt said. "He knows that he has a brain injury and that he has that he was shot in the head. He knows that. They told him that in Frazier. They made sure every day they rehearsed that with him. 'Why are you here?' So he knows that. But he doesn't talk about it at all."

Nick Wilt does appreciate those who acknowledge what he did that day.

"It makes me feel good," he said. "I'm happy for it. ... I do (feel like a hero)."

Nick Wilt doesn't make many public appearances, but his family receives the well-wishes for him.

"Everywhere I go, I get stopped. Everywhere I go," Zach Wilt said. "I went to Gustavo's about month ago. I got three people walked up to me. I went to just a fire station the other day, and they were doing some community outreach and I got stopped by two of the wives over there. So it's everywhere I go."

"I get stopped," Alex Wilt added. "Occasionally, I'll go to the gas station to pump gas, and some of you will recognize me or — on the back of my car, I got the Wilt's Warrior sticker — somebody will recognize and ask how he is. And, of course, I tell him how he's doing and I thank them for their support and for asking and the community has been amazing." 

Nick was released from the hospital in July and continues to make progress.

"It's slow," Jennifer Wilt said. "But they told us that it would be two years before we start to see major progress, and we've started seeing it within the first year."

"Is he up to what he was before the injured? No. But ... he's making jokes, he's starting to laugh, he's having the responses."

And he has started appearing in public more, like when he received a law enforcement Purple Heart and several other awards at the annual Louisville Metro Police Foundation awards celebration in March.

"An honor every single time, to recognize him, to keep his story going, his sacrifice," Zach Wilt said.

Right now, Nick Wilt is limited to the use of one hand. But during the awards ceremony, he was still able to applaud with some help from his twin.

"We kind of developed that, actually, I think that night, to be honest," Zach Wilt said. "Because he can't clap with both hands. So that's just that's his way of clapping."

Nick Wilt can also stand and walk.

"He needs someone around him still, but his balance is much better," Jennifer Wilt said. "He doesn't really need a cane."

Nick Wilt even has his own dance.

"It's the only dance I can really do," he said. "So I just taught myself."

But his mom said there are also some frustrations.

"He'll get a little angry in the morning when he first gets up," Jennifer Wilt said. "And we talked to some of his therapists about that, and they said he realizes in the morning. Reality hits him that this is real."

Challenges are sure to continue for Nick Wilt, but so many challenges have already been overcome despite the odds, knowing he has the support of his family, his fellow officers and the entire community.

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