LMPD deputy chief: Wounded officer still critical, investigation into mass shooter continues

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- As the community continues to grieve after an Old National Bank employee gunned down five co-workers Monday, LMPD's deputy chief said officers are still trying to process the carnage.

The shooter was killed in an exchange of gunfire with police that left three officers wounded, one critically, with a gunshot wound to the head.

Col. Paul Humphrey, LMPD's assistant chief, told WDRB Friday that Officer Nickolas Wilt remains in critical condition at University of Louisville Hospital. Wilt, one of the first officers on the scene at the mass shooting at the Preston Pointe building at 333 E. Main Street, underwent brain surgery, after he was shot.

Humphrey said Wilt's recovery is "going to be day to day. We're still looking at least another week out before we're really going to have some definitive news one way or another for him. So please continue to keep him in your prayers, keep thinking about him and his family, as well as the family of all the victims."

Humphrey said investigators will be slow to release information concerning evidence taken from the home of shooter Connor Sturgeon. Officers with long rifles and tactical gear arrived in an armored vehicle and entered the home at the intersection of Taylor Avenue and Warren Street, not long after the incident. After about 10 minutes inside, evidence technicians left with several bags of evidence.

Humphrey said it's too soon to discuss what investigators found inside the home. "At this stage of the investigation there's always a lot of sensitivity that goes into this, both for the shooter's family as well as the victim's family," he said.

"I know that people think because there's not going to be a prosecution, per se, in this case, that we should handle it maybe a little bit differently and put out information differently. And that's just not the case. We want to make sure that we handle this as sensitively and thoroughly as possible and to be quite frank with you this is going to be a slow stage of information coming out, because the last thing we want to do is put out something incorrect because we rushed to put information out."

Humphrey said that officers who responded at the scene refused to let the threat of losing their own lives stop them from protecting others. "It was a chaotic, it was a dangerous situation, and officers stepped up and they did the best job they could to make sure no one else was hurt."

He and other officers are proud of the response, but plan to use the experience to improve the next outcome.

"I'm very proud of the way officers responded. But we're going to critique this very heavily and make sure that if or when this happens the next time that we've learned any lessons of how we can improve to make sure that we can save more lives."

Humphrey said even though the spotlight is now on the officers for the bravery exhibited during the mass shooting, it's something they do every day without a second thought. And it does take an emotional toll.

"I think what's gotten lost in this is Officer Galloway was only able to stop that shooter because he was shooting at other officers. And those officers went up to rescue Officer Wilt and got shot at, and retreated, and went right back to rescue him again and got shot at it again. That was a lot of bravery, not just from Officer Wilt and Officer Galloway but from other officers.

"And then you add in the searching for victims, the treating of victims, and just being exposed to that horrific scene, that takes an emotional toll. And it adds up. And the doctor said we're weary from this. You know this scene has gotten a lot of attention but officers do that every single day. Just an hour later hours rushed from the hospital to go treat another shooting victim. We had two more homicide victims yesterday. Officers respond to every single one of these scenes."

As police continue dealing with the aftermath of the mass shooting while responding to other crimes daily, officers are weary. That's why "it's been really important that we've started to build a robust wellness and support system for officers because we understand that a mentally healthy officer is going to be able to serve the public better than someone who is not all the way there with us."

Humphrey has this message for the community:

"Stay strong. We have to be a community together. This problem of violence in our community isn't going to solve itself. It's only going to be solved through action -- and that's collaborative action -- at every single level. We have to have both the short-term solutions -- the police department is a band-aid solution to violent crime. We need long-term sustained solutions and community interaction in order to solve both the short-term and the long-term causes of violence in the community."

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