Old National Bank shooting had 'hometown affect'

When Louisville Metro Police Detective William Smallwood raced through the streets of Louisville a year ago, in his backseat was a fellow officer who had been seriously wounded.

Fortunately, the hospital was not far away. In fact, just down the road.

Smallwood sped through traffic with officer Nick Wilt clinging to life in the backseat after being extracted at Old National Bank in downtown Louisville following a mass shooting. The shooter also had shot Wilt.

“It seemed like an hour to get there, but it was literally about 45 seconds,” Smallwood said. “I pulled into an ER ambulance bay, we got Officer Wilt out and carried him inside.”

April 10 marked the anniversary of the event Smallwood and others would rather not remember but occupies their thoughts.

Smallwood, a 2005 graduate of Central Hardin High School and from Cecilia, was the third responder to arrive on scene for the active shooter at the bank where five employees were killed and eight others injured.

One of those killed was Elizabethtown native Tommy Elliott. Elliott, 63, was senior vice president at the downtown branch and a 1977 graduate of Elizabethtown High School.

That beautiful, sunny Monday morning, the day after Easter a year ago, began with Smallwood and another officer received a call for an individual under mental distress. The other officer placed the man in her patrol car to take him to the hospital while Smallwood went to the courthouse at 6th and West Jefferson Street to pick up a warrant.

On the way there he was carrying on a normal phone conversation with his mother, Evelyn Smallwood, of Elizabethtown, which he does routinely.

Near the Brooks Street exit on Interstate 65, Smallwood hears a call come over the radio.

“They have an active aggressor,” he said. “More calls started coming in … more and more and more … you’re like, ‘This is it.’ ”

He told his mother, “Active shooter … I love you!” and hung up the phone.

With lights on and sirens blaring, Smallwood heads toward the scene but because motorists would not pull over, he was forced to go a different route.

“Had I not missed that first turn I would have pulled up right in front of the bank,” Smallwood said. “The way I had to go took me up Witherspoon to Preston and I pulled in right behind Officer [Nick] Wilt and Officer [Josh] Galloway.”

Climbing out of his new marked Dodge Charger at 8:42 a.m. the adrenaline is pumping when Smallwood hears, “Officer down!” broadcast across his radio.

A plain clothes detective, who was on his way to court that morning, pulls up behind Smallwood. Having no bullet proof vest, Smallwood hands him an additional vest he had in the trunk of his cruiser.

Smallwood began to survey the surroundings. He looks up at the six-story bank building. Then he notices onlookers coming from their cars near Louisville Slugger Field and he yells at them to take cover.

“Then I hear gunfire,” Smallwood said. “So, when I heard gunfire … obviously I’m going toward it because I knew there were innocent people in there.”

As the officer runs toward the shots, he approaches a concrete planter and sees Wilt about seven steps above him on the ground where he had been hit by the assailant, former bank employee Connor James Sturgeon, 25.

Officer Jay Moss, who had taken cover behind another concrete planter several feet away from Smallwood, looked over to the man he recruited. They gave each other an expression of confidence and trust in each other.

“We knew it was bad and we were still taking gunfire and we could see it because the glass was shattering,” Smallwood said. “It echoed and it was very loud.”

Galloway joined the mix returning gun fire and was able to take Sturgeon down as Smallwood and Moss approached the injured and bleeding Wilt.

Seeing Wilt in the condition he was, the officers knew the only hope he had was to get him to the hospital as quickly as they possibly could.

“Me and a couple other officers grab Wilt and we put him in the backseat of my car,” Smallwood said.

Officer Shane Denton sat in the backseat of the cruiser keeping pressure on Wilt’s head wound as they roared away from the scene.

The trauma team at University of Louisville had no idea what was happening and no time to prepare for what was moments away, Smallwood said.

When they pulled into the ambulance bay, Smallwood and Denton placed Wilt on a gurney, removed his vest and duty belt, then got out of the way of the medical team who immediately took control and got to work trying to save the police officer.

“It’s like organized chaos,” Smallwood said. “You and I would think we were at an auction because we had no clue what they were saying. It was like, ‘Give me this, give me this.’ ”

The two walked out of the room where other officers were waiting for word on their comrade.

Smallwood remembers slouching over, his legs felt like they were weighted down and he grabbed his knees, wondering if it was all a dream.

Walking outside the first thing he did was call his wife, Megan.

“It felt like it had been three hours … and it had only been 17 minutes,” he said. “I called my wife at 8:59. I’ll never forget it … that time sticks in my head forever.”

A busy CPA in the middle of tax season and 70-hour weeks, she is normally a very calm and poised person. That is, Smallwood said, until she heard the words, “active shooter” and “I’m OK” and panic set in.

The rest of that day was somewhat a blur as he was interviewed by the department’s Public Integrity Unit and was driven home.

Smallwood eventually did call his mother back later — probably several hours later — that day.

“My mom went to school with Mr. Elliott’s sister at E’town High School,” he said. “That’s why I say it has a hometown affect that a lot of people don’t realize. I wish we could change that day. We can’t, so all we can do is heal, try to comfort each other and make each other better every day.”

Smallwood thinks of April 10, 2023, every day and says it is difficult to talk about. In his mind, he relives it and wonders if he could have done anything differently.

Learning to “escape it” has taken some time and he has good days and bad days. He is able to replace the thoughts in his mind with other interests — hunting, fishing, working on cars — a hobby he learned from father Bob Smallwood of Central Kentucky Rods and Machines — and spending precious time with his son and wife.

He thinks about the innocent bank employees who went to work as they always do on a Monday morning, sitting in a conference room when Sturgeon opened fire on them.

For his actions that day, Smallwood was awarded the Medal of Valor, the second highest honor given by LMPD behind the Purple Heart, which is the highest honor.

Wilt, who was a new officer to the force and survived the ordeal, was awarded the Purple Heart and Medal of Valor for his bravery that day.

Wilt is on Smallwood’s mind and in his prayers every day and he talks to Wilt’s family often.

“I’ve become very close to them,” Smallwood said. “Every step he takes toward healing I take with him.”

Smallwood considers the two real heroes of that day to be officers Wilt and Galloway. He believes if it weren’t for them, he may not have been able to go home to his wife and son.

“I’ll say that until I can’t say it anymore,” Smallwood said.