The Metro Nashville Police Department released body camera footage Tuesday from two of the officers who rushed into the Covenant School Monday morning and fatally shot the shooter.
Warning: this video is extremely difficult to watch.
According to police, the body camera footage was taken from Rex Engelbert, a 4-year veteran, and Michael Collazo, a 9-year veteran. Both have been credited with neutralizing the suspect and putting an end to the school shooting.
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The video begins with Engelbert emerging from his vehicle and grabbing his gear before receiving the status of the school and people inside from an unknown woman.
Engelbert enters the school through a locked door. He and his team begin searching the school, yelling “Metro Police!” as they walk through the hallways and enter empty classrooms.
As the school’s alarm system blares in the background, gunfire rings out.
“It sounds like it’s upstairs,” an officer can be heard saying.
The team rushes upstairs. The sound of gunfire becomes louder.
Engelbert moves quickly towards an upstairs lobby area where the attacker is positioned. He fires several shots, and the attacker falls to the ground.
Several more shots are fired amid shouts of “stop moving” and “get your hand away from the gun.” Finally, someone yells “suspect down, suspect down!”
As shown in the second clip and confirmed by police, which came from Collazo’s body camera, the 9-year veteran fired the final shots.
Monday’s school shooting marks the 89th shooting on K-12 school grounds in 2023, according to K-12 School Shooting Database. It is also the 129th mass shooting in 2023, according to Gun Violence Archive.
While we remember the victims – Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9; Hallie Scruggs, 9; William Kinney, 9; Katherine Koonce, 60; Cynthia Peak, 61; and Mike Hill, 61 – let’s also take time to thank the brave officers who did not hesitate to rush into the school.
It is sickening children have to fear going to school, and parents worry if their kids will return home. When will this stop?
Law enforcement does their job by neutralizing the threat, but most of the time it’s too late. We need to stop the problem BEFORE we lose anymore people.
Please help us recognize officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo for their bravery.