Footage of the local police response to the recent tragic shooting at a Nashville, Tennessee, Christian school has sparked a national discussion on how law enforcement should respond to such crises.
The six minutes of bodycam footage show the perspectives of Officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo as they approach, enter, and proceed through the school.
Both officers were credited by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) with taking down the reported killer upon making contact with them on the second floor.
Police identified Audrey Hale, a biological female who identified as a transgender male, as the shooter, as reported by The Dallas Express.
“Two members of an officer team fired on Hale and fatally wounded her,” MNPD said in a press release. “Those two officers are Officer Rex Engelbert, a four-year MNPD veteran, and Officer Michael Collazo, a nine-year MNPD veteran.”
The footage shows MNPD officers quickly and aggressively moving through the building in search of the shooter, who was firing out a window at police cars as they arrived at the scene. Upon encountering Hale in a common area, Engelbert incapacitated Hale while Collazo fired shortly afterward, killing Hale.
In total, it took Nashville law enforcement 14 minutes to respond and neutralize Hale.
“They trained for that … [T]his moment happened and they didn’t hesitate at all,” MNPD Chief John Drake explained, per ABC News.
“They responded, immediately went inside, knew the danger that was going on. Shots were being fired at the police cars. That did not deter them. They went anyway inside,” Drake said.
Dianna Muller, founder of the pro-Second Amendment education organization DC Project, explained to The Dallas Express, “As a former police officer, this is the kind of response we expect in active shooting situations. But make no mistake, this affects the officers just like anyone else. Prayers for everyone involved.”
Many others heralded the responding officers’ response, applauding their courage.
The National Fraternal Order of Police said on Twitter, “HEROES! Nashville Police Officers Rex Englebert and Michael Collazo immediately stopped the monster who murdered three children and three adults in cold blood yesterday at the Covenant School. Thankful to all the heroes who responded!”
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) noted, “The Nashville police who raced toward the school shooter with discipline and courage were heroes.”
Local media personality and activist Sara Gonzales similarly wrote, “Nashville Police have released the bodycam footage and it cannot be stressed enough how remarkable this response was. These men are absolute heroes.”
MNPD also released security camera footage from the school showing Hale driving up to the campus, shooting through the locked door, and moving through the building looking for victims.
The quick response and notable transparency from Nashville law enforcement led many in Texas to compare police actions in The Covenant School incident to the tragedy at Uvalde last May when police took 77 minutes to neutralize the shooter.
The National Police Association shared an article comparing the responses, highlighting that while Uvalde law enforcement officers claimed to be afraid of the shooter’s rifle, Nashville officers went in regardless.
A video comparison of the two tragedies shows the stark difference between the MNPD’s rapid advance and the wait-and-see approach of law enforcement at the scene in Uvalde, where police were stationed down the hall from the shooter for an extended period of time.
“Each one of these cops took a leadership role here and I don’t think we can say the same thing for what happened in Texas,” explained Joseph Giacalone, a former NYPD sergeant, per the New York Post.
“The longer you wait the more you hesitate or think about these things. It’s paralysis by analysis and that didn’t happen,” he added.
Texas Law enforcement should be ashamed about their response in Uvalde. The 3 stooges Abbott , Patrick and Paxton should be tarred and feathered for their followup.after Uvalde.