It’s been a whole day since we learned of the devastating school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee yesterday, and it’s still incredibly difficult to process. It’s hard to even type out the words, formulate sentences… my heart is just shattered for the families of this community.
Three children and three staffers were killed at the hands of the 28-year-old former student, Audrey Hale, (who identifies as transgender and went by the name Aiden).
Nashville police released video footage of Hale shooting out the front doors and walking into the school with two assault rifles and a handgun before killing nine-year-old students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and Williams Kinney, and custodian Mike Hill, 61, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and Katherine Koonce, 60, the headmaster at the school.
Officers were able to easily infiltrate the school, and quickly fatally shoot Hale before taking anymore victims. The two officers who fired the shots were identified as four year vet Rex Englebert, and nine year vet Michael Collazo.
Nashville Police Chief John Drake also noted that they had discovered a manifesto written by Hale, showing that the shooting was premeditated.
And now, Nashville Police has released the bodycam footage of Englebert and Collazo.
From Englebert’s intense footage, you can see him exit his vehicle and grab his rifle from the back of the squad car, before yelling at fellow officers to go.
They walk in and begin to clear the first floor, when they begin to hear gunshots on the second floor.
They make their way up, and continue to hear shots. They follow the shots, turn the corner, and see Hale standing by a window, and they fire the shots without any hesitation.
You can see the same from Collazo’s point of view as well… just an insanely high pressure situation that’s hard to watch, let alone to participate in as one of the responding officers.
Needless to say, this video gives you even more appreciation for the officers involved. Skill, training, experience, bravery… there’s no telling how many lives were saved were saved by the actions of these police officers.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
