WARNING: Video in this story is graphic and may be disturbing to some. Discretion is advised.
We’re now seeing firsthand the moments Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers rushed into The Covenant School amid gunfire, combed the building, and stopped the shooter from taking any more lives.
MNPD confirms it took just 14 minutes from the first 911 call, to officers arriving at the school, making their way through the building towards the gunfire, and then ultimately taking out the shooter.
“The kids are all locked down. We have two kids we don’t know where they are,” said a woman urgently to MNPD Officer Rex Englebert, as he approached Covenant School, which is also a church.
Englebert’s body camera video shows the moments from when he arrived in his patrol car to the school, to firing shots toward the suspect.
“Let’s go... I need three!” called Englebert to other first responders in tactical gear, as he unlocked a door to the building.
Officials say the shooter, Audrey Hale, 28, fired from a second floor window, as officers rushed the building. Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said investigators have since confiscated a manifesto that she wrote, and a plan to attack the school.
“There were maps drawn of the school in detail of surveillance entry points,” said Drake.
Hale was armed with an AR-15 strapped over her back, a 9 millimeter rifle which she was aiming, a pistol, and “significant” ammunition.
The video shows the officers working in teams to enter each room of the building, with weapons drawn and alarms blaring, searching for the shooter. None hesitated to follow the sound of the gunshots to the second floor.
During the same timeframe, MNPD Officer Michael Collazo’s body camera video also shows him working with his team to approach the shooter from a different part of the school.
‘Let’s go! Second floor!’ yelled Callazo.
Officers came face-to-face with the shooter on the second floor, who was staged near a window. Multiple rounds of gunfire can be heard, as the suspect falls to the floor.
Collazo, Englebert and all of the responding officers who worked quickly to track down the shooter, stopping anymore lives from being taken, are now being praised for their courageous response.
“As I’ve said before, we will not wait,” said Drake. “I was hoping this day would never come here in the city. But we will never wait to go in, make entry, and stop a threat- especially when it is with our children.”
The Uvalde Foundation For Kids, which was formed in response to the Robb Elementary School shooting in Texas, is awarding the responding officers with medals of bravery.
Nashville Police Chief Drake said that he had spoken to President Biden, and that the president is planning to call both Callazo and Englebert directly.