Louisville first responders, police leaning on one another in days following mass shooting

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The first responders who rushed to the mass shooting in downtown Louisville Monday morning are now feeling the effects of the trauma they experienced, and are showing up to support one another.

Flowers and messages of support now fill the steps of Old National Bank where an employee, armed with an AR-15 rifle, opened fire. Five people died and eight others were injured.

Louisville Metro Police officers were the first on the scene, rushing toward the danger. Now, the police department is making sure they have support in the days and weeks that follow.

LMPD released the 911 calls from Monday morning on Wednesday. Dispatchers can be heard telling callers that they're aware of an active shooter at the bank and have officers on their way.

"OK, I just need you to stay put at the moment. We have officers in the building clearing it, just to make sure. As far as my understanding is, the shooter has been taken into custody. So as far as my understanding, the scene is safe at the moment but we just want everyone to stay put because the officers are clearing the building floor by floor just to make sure there's nobody else in there posing a threat, OK?"

Those officers running toward the danger. One of the first on the scene, officer Nickolas Wilt, was shot in the head and rushed into brain surgery at University of Louisville Hospital where he remains, stable but in critical condition.

"I can speak for myself, and I believe I can speak for most of the agency, the pride that we are feeling right now. Our shoulders are a little higher, our chins are up a little bit, and it's because of our two brothers in blue and the actions that they took and the dozens and dozens of officers that responded right after them that saved countless, countless lives," said Maj. Bryan Edelen.

Officer Cory Galloway was also one of the first on scene. He was also shot and injured, but stayed at the scene until it was secured. He was treated at UofL Hospital and released.

Officers Nickolas Wilt and Cory Galloway *(Photos courtesy of Louisville Metro Police)*

Edelen, and Lt. Joel Lopez, have been at the hospital every day this week. They've also been helping those dozens of other officers who responded as part of their Peer Support Unit, during a week that has been horrendous for the department as a whole.

"There's a weight of leadership, too, that you feel responsible for everyone there, and I think I'm very blessed with my wife that I walked in the door and she knew, and I didn't have to shut the door, she knew that it was a tough day," said Lopez. "But it wasn't just Monday. It was Tuesday. It was Wednesday. I was cutting the grass this morning and I had to take a moment."

They're there for their officers to help break the stigma and let them know that it's OK to not be OK.

The five bank employees killed in the shooting were Joshua 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.