Louisville Shooting: Police Officer Who Just Graduated 2 Weeks Ago Critical After Being Shot In Head

A 26-year-old man who recently joined the Louisville Metro Police Department is in critical condition after he was shot in the head during a mass shooting at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed at least five people Monday.

Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel, the interim chief of the Louisville police department, said in a news conference that officer Nickolas Wilt was taken to the hospital and had to undergo brain surgery following the mass shooting.

"He is in critical but stable condition," Gwinn-Villaroel said, CNN reported.

Gwinn-Villaroel said Wilt graduated from the police academy just two weeks ago.

Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg told CNN he visited Wilt at the University of Louisville Hospital.

Greenberg said the police officer "made it through surgery and he's in serious condition at the hospital right now, but he is in great hands."

The Louisville mayor also shared that he handed Wilt his diploma during his graduation from the police academy.

On Monday morning, a gunman, identified as 25-year-old Connor Sturgeon, entered the Old National Bank in Louisville and began shooting at the people inside, killing at least five and injuring at least nine others.

Louisville police identified the four people killed on the spot as Joshua Barrick, 40; Thomas Elliott, 63; Juliana Farmer, 45; and James Tutt, 64. They were all employees of Old National Bank.

Police said the fifth victim, Deanna Eckert, 57, initially survived the shooting but died Monday night, The New York Times reported. She also worked at the bank, according to a LinkedIn page.

Sturgeon was killed by the police after exchanging fire with them.

A man who witnessed the shooting rampage recalled the moments before the gunfire began.

"We heard a click, and the lady next to me turned around and said, 'What the hell?'" the witness said, Fox News reported. "Whoever was next to me got shot and blood is on me from it."

According to the police, Sturgeon was live streaming his shooting rampage on social media. Gwinn-Villaroel did not further elaborate on the details of the suspect's live streaming, but she said it was "tragic to know that incident was out there being captured."

Sturgeon was a "syndications associate and portfolio banker" at Old National Bank and worked there as a full-time employee for nearly two years after he had internships at the bank in the past, a LinkedIn page cited by The Times revealed.

The police did not specify a motive for why Sturgeon carried out a mass shooting inside his workplace. However, unnamed law enforcement sources told ABC News that the gunman had recently been notified he was going to be fired from his job.

The sources added that Sturgeon allegedly left his parents and friends a note indicating he would shoot up the bank.

Reactions poured in following the incident, including from Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who revealed that one of those killed in the mass shooting was "one of my closest friends."

Beshear said Elliott, a senior vice president at Old National, helped him build his law career and become Kentucky's governor.

On Twitter, President Joe Biden shared his grief with the victims' families and others impacted by the shooting incident.

Biden also urged Republicans in Congress to act on gun control legislation.