Louisville bank shooter waited to ‘ambush’ police after killing co-workers, bodycam video shows
The Louisville Metro Police Department has released body camera video from officers who responded to Monday’s deadly mass shooting downtown.
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 evening, showing how the first two responding officers were both shot before additional officers arrived to help take control of the situation.
The suspect, police said, was waiting near the bank entrance to “ambush” officers.
The videos were posted to LMPD’s social media pages 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 rifle, officials said during an earlier 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. Sturgeon shot Wilt in the head, and the 26-year-old officer was still in critical condition Tuesday afternoon.
LMPD Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey analyzed the nine-minute video as it was shown to the news media. Humphrey said the response was “not perfect” but what officers needed in order to save lives.
He called their actions “superhuman.”
”You can see the tension in that video and understand the stress they are going through,” Humphrey said.
Several still images were also shown of the shooter farther inside the building before the ambush, and after the shooting 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 immediately hearing gunfire while they’re still inside their police cruiser, which Wilt was driving.
Wilt backed up out of the line of fire and parked. That’s when Wilt’s footage showed them exiting the car and Galloway pulling a rifle from the trunk of the cruiser. Both officers approached the bank entrance, which required climbing several stairs from the sidewalk at street-level.
Wilt and Galloway were shot almost simultaneously.
Galloway’s footage showed he fell to the ground after being grazed by a bullet, retreated back down the stairs and took cover behind a shrub outside the bank. Humphrey said Galloway continued “to stay in the fight” after being shot.
It took additional officers about three minutes to arrive on scene and begin the effort to rescue Wilt, who had been shot in the head and was blurred out on video. The gunman fired at those officers, according to police, which broke glass at the bank entrance. Galloway then had a line of sight on the suspect, allowing the officer to fire at Sturgeon, killing him.
“Suspect down!” he shouts. “Get the officer!”
Galloway then approached the building and saw the shooter lying on the ground surrounded by broken glass. Body camera video showed the suspect, who was blurred out, and his rifle on the ground with blood pooled around him. Piles of broken glass from the building’s windows were also visible, and crunched under Galloway’s feet as he entered the building.
Police also showed bystander video from across the street, which showed Galloway falling after being shot, rolling over, running down the stairs and immediately training his rifle on the front of the bank.
Officers were initially dispatched at 8:38 a.m. and arrived on scene at 8:41 a.m., according to information provided by LMPD. Sturgeon fired on the officers at 8:41 a.m. and again at 8:42 a.m., 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 a.m.
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.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
