Bodycam Showed Cop ‘Stayed in the Fight’ After Being Shot

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(TNS) – The Louisville Metro Police Department has released bodycam video from officers who responded to Monday’s deadly mass shooting at a downtown bank.

The footage captures how police reacted to a gunman who killed five people and injured several others before officers shot and killed him during an exchange of gunfire.

Police released the footage during a news conference Tuesday, showing how the first responding officers were both shot before additional officers responded to help take control of the situation. The videos were expected to be posted on social media Tuesday. Police also provided media with an updated timeline of the incident.

Officials later identified the shooter as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, an employee at Old National Bank, where the shooting occurred. He had an AR-15, officials said during a news conference Tuesday.

Among the people shot Monday was Louisville officer Nickolas Wilt, who had been sworn into the force less than two weeks prior to the shooting, according to LMPD. He was shot in the head and was still in critical condition Tuesday afternoon.

Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey from LMPD analyzed the video as it was shown during Tuesday’s news conference. Humphrey said the situation was “not perfect” but what they needed in order to save lives, and said the officers’ response was “superhuman.”

”You can see the tension in that video and understand what they are going through,” Humphrey said.

Several still images were also shown of the shooter inside the building before the ambush, and after the ambush took place while he was waiting in the lobby of the building for officers to arrive.

The bodycam video footage showed officers Cory Galloway and Wilt arrive to the scene and hear gunfire while they’re still inside their police cruiser, which Wilt was driving.

After pulling up to the bank, Wilt’s footage showed that Galloway pulled a long gun from the trunk of the cruiser. Both officers approached the bank.

Galloway’s bodycam footage showed that he fell after being shot and took cover outside the bank. Humphrey said Galloway continued “to stay in the fight” after being shot.

Additional officers showed up in an effort to rescue Wilt, who had been shot and was blurred out on video. The gunman fired at those officers, according to police, which broke glass at the bank. Galloway then had a line of sight on the suspect, allowing him to fire at him and kill him.

Galloway can be heard shouting that the shooter was down. Galloway then approached the building and entered to see the shooter lying dead on the ground surrounded by broken glass from the building’s windows.

Galloway’s bodycam video showed the suspect, who was blurred out, and his rifle on the ground.

Police also showed bystander video from near the scene, which appeared to show the altercation from behind Galloway.

Officers were initially dispatched at 8:38 a.m. and arrived on scene at 8:41, according to information provided by LMPD. Sturgeon fired on the officers at 8:41 and again at 8:42, according to police.

Police were fired at again at 8:44 a.m. and returned fire, according to police. They entered the building and confirmed Wilt had been shot at 8:45.

”It’s easy to tell an officer that you have to run towards gunfire. It’s another thing to actually do it,” Humphrey said. “Their job is to go towards that danger.”

Humphrey said as officers assess an active-shooter situation, they must consider first whether there are victims or hostages. Next, whether there are bystanders in the area, and then officer safety.

He said the suspect “has the ultimate control” in such a situation.

”Tragically, lives were lost, but countless lives were saved,” Humphrey said of the officers’ response.

Humphrey said officers took medical supplies into the building and began rendering aid to victims.

”It is 100 percent certainty that officers’ medical treatment saved lives that day,” he said.

The footage was released just weeks after the Metro Nashville Police Department took a similar step, releasing footage from officers who responded to and killed an active shooter inside a school last month.