The police officer who was critically injured by a mass shooter at a Louisville bank in April will be released from the hospital on Friday.
Nickolas Wilt, the 26-year-old rookie cop who risked his life to stop a mass shooter, spent a total of 109 days hospitalized after sustaining a gunshot to the head.
Wilt was rushed to University of Louisville Hospital, where he immediately underwent brain surgery.
The rookie cop had only graduated from the Police Academy 11 days before he responded to the shooting at Old National Bank.
‘I just swore him in, and his family was there to witness his journey to become a police officer,’ LMPD Police Chief Jacquelyn Gwinn-Villaroel immediately after the shooting.
‘Officer Wilt was a brand new officer, he had no experience. He was going based on two things: his training and his character,’ Deputy Police Chief Paul Humphrey said.
Wilt spent the next four weeks on a ventilator as he fought pneumonia, infections, and other lung complications.
In May, Wilt’s family announced that he was taken off the ventilator and was being prepared to move to neurological rehab at the University of Louisville’s Frazier Rehab Institute.
However, they also confirmed that the bullet remained lodged in Wilt’s head. Doctors said the bullet was in a ‘crucial area’ of Wilt’s brain, but also determined it caused minimal damage and was ‘not a threat to the brain or its blood vessels.’
On Thursday, the Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) announced that he was being discharged from the Frazier Rehab Institute the following day.
‘This is the day we have all been praying for,’ the LMPD said in a statement.
The LMPD also invited the community to a homecoming celebration being held at the Southeast Christian Church at 12.30pm on Friday.
‘This will be the first time, Officer Wilt will be able to see, in person, the love and support the community has for him,’ the LMPD said. ‘We look forward to seeing you there!’
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