The frantic moments when police arrived at the site of a bank shooting in downtown Louisville as the shooter they couldn’t see from the street showered bullets down on them are captured on police body camera video released on Tuesday. The films, which were shot from the lapels of two injured policemen, provide a unique perspective of how police responded to a massacre that left five people dead and eight more injured on Monday, according to the AP. Within minutes of arriving on the scene, one officer—a rookie—was shot in the head, while his partner—who had been grazed by a bullet—sought cover while continuing to pursue the shooter.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey of the Louisville Metro Police Department took reporters through edited video and still images while praising the heroic actions of the responding officers. According to a timeline provided by police, they got the call of a shooting at Old National Bank at 8:38am, and the two policemen showed up three minutes later. The shooter started fire at them before they had even exited the patrol car. As gunfire boomed in the background, one cop yelled, “Back up, back up, back up.” A single image taken from surveillance footage showed the bank employee who was shot holding a firearm while inside the structure was covered in shattered glass. He allegedly set up an ambush position to assault authorities as they came after shooting multiple victims inside.
A rifle was retrieved from the patrol car’s trunk by officer Cory Galloway. He said, “Cover for me.” Officer Nickolas Wilt, a rookie who had just graduated from the police academy ten days prior, was being trained by Galloway. They can be seen in the videos moving up the stairs and toward the front door as the shooter opens fire. Wilt received a headshot. At the bottom of the stairway leading to the building, Galloway is seen using the concrete planter as cover, as captured by his body camera. He is heard saying on the footage, “The shooter has an angle on that officer.” “We have to ascend there,” additional gunshots were heard as additional officers arrived. After firing at the assailant, Galloway exclaimed, “I think he’s down,” and moved inside the structure. Galloway suffered a shoulder graze.
Humphrey added, “I think you can perceive the tension in that footage. “You can appreciate the stress the policemen are through. To save lives, they did exactly what was required of them. No more people were shot after the police arrived. The suspect was lying on the ground inside the foyer when Galloway approached him, as seen on camera. Glass fragments crunched beneath his feet as he proceeded, and the shooter’s body with a long rifle next to it is visible. Wilt was driven to a hospital in the trunk of a police vehicle. According to Dr. Jason Smith, chief medical officer at University of Louisville Hospital, he was still in a critical but stable condition on Tuesday.
