Kentucky Police Video Shows Desperate Rush to Stop Mass Shooting, Save Lives
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By Julia Harte and Sharon Bernstein
Authorities released footage taken from the body cameras of a rookie officer and his training instructor who were trying to stop a mass shooting in a Kentucky bank. The video was sparse but dramatic.
The video, which was shown by the Louisville Metropolitan Police Department in an afternoon briefing, and that the police later posted on Twitter, came a day after the Louisville bank employee who killed five people, and injured nine others, including the two police officers, while he livedstreamed a video of the attack.
The footage of the body cam begins with the image of the police cruiser's console as it approaches the downtown building. The steering wheel is wildly swung from side to side while rookie officer Nickolas Will drives the car, and his partner Cory Galloway shouts directions away from camera.
"Back up!" "Back up!" He shouts it again.
Three minutes after their dispatch, Wilt prepares his handgun while Galloway takes a rifle from the trunk. The camera image then lurches to the bank's building. The suspect fires a burst of shots at the officers as they are in the lobby.
Galloway appears to be on his knees, but he scrambles up and runs down to hide behind the planter. He shouts.
About three minutes after Galloway & Wilt, backup appears.
Galloway: "The shooter is angled at that officer." "We have to get there."
Two minutes later he yells, "God!"
Galloway, who was injured, then smashed the 25-year old gunman Connor Sturgeon from his position on the stairs.
Galloway shouts "Suspect Down" as he enters the building.
Wilt, as explained by Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey during the presentation on Tuesday, was also injured. He was shot in the face but was still alive. He was still in critical condition at the time of last report.
Humphrey, after showing the body-camera video of both officers and a bystander, said: "What you saw was absolutely amazing." Only a handful of people in the country can do what these officers did.