LOUISVILLE — At the hospital where rookie police officer Nickolas Wilt has fought for survival, he has been surrounded by the circles of people who make up his life — his family and an unusually layered array of first responders, including police, firefighters and emergency medics.
They were there because Wilt has been there for them — the 26-year-old has served in an astonishing array of public service roles since his teens, his life now threatened by Monday’s shooting at the Old National Bank, where, as one of the first responding officers, he was shot in the brain.
Deborah S. Berry, the Oldham County EMS director and Wilt’s former boss, said that Wilt’s identical twin brother, who has been training at the police academy, his mother, and his girlfriend of eight months, who is also an Oldham medic, have been present throughout, alongside representatives of several public service agencies.
Even those who weren’t there in person were keeping one another updated about his progress, she said.
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“People keep texting me to tell me who is watching over him for the next few hours,” she said. “You can see how beloved he is because I don’t even need to ask for updates, I just keep receiving them.”
That did not shock Berry, nor did the circumstances that felled Wilt.
“I’m proud of how fast Nick reacted, sad about what happened, but absolutely unsurprised,” she said. “Knowing his level of professionalism, maturity and drive for public service, it makes complete sense to me that he was the first one to get close to the shooter.”
In recent days, officials at news conferences and Louisvillians have frequently used two words to describe Wilt: rookie and hero. The former because Wilt’s shift on Monday was his fourth ever; he graduated from the police academy on March 31. The latter because of what happened after that shift began.
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Authorities said many lives were saved by the swift police response of Wilt and Cory Galloway, who were the first officers to arrive at the scene of Monday’s shooting.
“This young man went into the line of fire to protect others,” Deputy Chief Paul Humphrey said at a news conference Tuesday, at which body-cam video from the two officers was played. Humphrey said Wilt was not relying on experience, but on “his training and his character.”
Many people who work in emergency services attempt to juggle one or two jobs together, Wilt’s friends and colleagues said. However, no one could think of anyone other than Wilt who was certified in and excelled at four emergency services: Wilt, they said, has been a calm and cool dispatcher at Oldham County Central Dispatch; a compassionate and efficient emergency medical technician in Oldham County, Henry County and Jeffersonville, Ind.; a speedy and thoughtful firefighter at Campbellsburg and La Grange Fire and Rescue Departments, and most recently and briefly a brave member of the Louisville Metro Police Department.
The timelines for Wilt’s jobs are hazy and overlapping because he never fully left any of them, his colleagues said. When he was a full-time firefighter, he still worked in dispatch part time; when he was a full-time emergency medic, he was still volunteering at the fire department, they said.
The La Grange Fire and Rescue Department still has a locker with Wilt’s name on it, officials there said. Just Saturday, Wilt visited the Oldham County EMS office and told colleagues he would be signing up for shifts as soon as the police department finalized his hours.
‘This super great kid’
Tory Harris, who has been a firefighter for 26 years and works at La Grange Fire and Rescue, said that if he got a do-over in life, he would want to be Wilt.
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“I know some people who juggle between EMS and firefighting, or police officers and volunteer firefighters, but I’ve never known anyone like this super great kid,” he said. “He’s seen all sides of emergency services. I can’t even imagine the amount of knowledge that kid has.”
His colleagues from various jobs said that what makes Wilt stand apart is his work ethic.
“Nick is always the first to show up for work, the first to get into the firetruck, the first to react to any situation,” Harris said. “He was able to react as fast as he did on Monday because he’s been a hero, putting his life on the line for others, every day for the last seven years.”
Maj. Keith Smith at the LaGrange fire department, another of Wilt’s former bosses, lauded his skills.
“My staff is great, but I’ll be honest, not every staffer here works on 120 percent capacity like Nick does,” Smith said. “He can multitask like no one else; he reacts calmly but quickly. Nick is special and unique.”
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Smith attended Wilt’s police academy graduation on March 31, along with other firefighters and staffers. He remembered telling Wilt that he was incredibly proud of him.
Share this articleShare“There’s nothing you can’t do, I told him,” Smith said.
Darlene Harris is in her early 60s. One of her colleagues at Oldham County EMS jokes that she’s old enough to be Wilt’s grandmother. But she said Wilt used to be her partner until he left for the police academy — and is her best friend.
Darlene Harris said Wilt can get along with just about anybody, from any generation or background. “Look at the age gap between us, and still he understood me so well,” she said. “No one reads my face or my sighs as well as Nick.”
She said she played a role in matchmaking Wilt and his girlfriend, the medic.
“They both liked each other and told me as much,” she said. “All I did was tell them both.”
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Many of Wilt’s friends and colleagues describe him as quiet, someone who appears shy until he feels comfortable in your presence. Some said he also has a passion for motorcycles and fast cars.
“I don’t think he had much spare time, but when he did, he would laugh around with his buds or ride his motorcycle thingy,” said Smith, the fire major. “And he has a Mustang convertible that I saw a couple of times.”
John Luker, a trainer and paramedic at Oldham County EMS, described Wilt as “a public servant and a servant leader.” Luker gave Wilt his orientation at Oldham County EMS and looked after his progress, he said.
“He doesn’t speak a lot, but when he does, it’s very powerful,” Luker said. “And his one-liners always crack me up. He’s incredibly wry and witty.”
A police spokesperson said Wilt’s family asked the media to not contact them. Inquiries to several police officers and the department itself were not answered.
Choosing to be a police officer
Some of Wilt’s colleagues at the fire department were surprised when they learned he was joining the police academy.
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“I was blindsided,” Tory Harris said. “‘Why? You’re so good at your job here, why do you want to join the LMPD?’ I said to him.”
The average salary of a police officer in Louisville is higher than that of a firefighter or medic, people in emergency services said.
“But I know Wilt wasn’t doing any of this for extra money,” Smith said. “He’s just one of those people who genuinely wants to help people.”
His medic colleagues said Wilt made it clear that he was passionate about being a police officer. Berry, Wilt’s former boss, said she talked to him about joining the force. She wanted to make sure he was aware of all the risks he would be taking on, she said.
“He said: ‘I love the EMS, I love the fire service, but I’ve always wanted to be a police officer,’” Berry said. “And that was it; we wished him the best of luck, and we talked about how he would do part-time hours with us.”
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Luker, the paramedic trainer, alluded to the Justice Department’s recent probe of the Louisville Metro Police Department and the expectation that the department is likely to undergo sweeping changes.
“Nick is the type of officer you need,” he said. “It’s not that there’s a vacuum, there’s tons of great officers, but there’s a culture shift coming, and it’s people like Nick who will be a part of this refreshing change.”
‘I was afraid it wasn’t safe’
Darlene Harris, his paramedic partner, said she wasn’t happy to see him go, but she wished him well.
“I was afraid it wasn’t safe to join the LMPD. I wanted him to stay with me,” she said. “I knew the possibilities.”
Harris said that she knew Wilt’s recently deceased father was proud of him for joining the police force. She was less sure about how Wilt’s mother felt, “but I imagine she was worried about him like I was.”
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On the day of the shooting, Harris said, she sensed Wilt was in trouble. She didn’t text him, she said, because she has been sending him worried texts too often since he joined the police. Instead, she texted his girlfriend.
“When she finally responded, I went weak in my knees,” Harris said. “Then I turned off my TV because it was all too much for me.”
“You know when something like this happens, people say, ‘Oh, he was such a nice person,’” she said. “Well, the thing is, he really is just such a fantastic person that I don’t know what else to say.”
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