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'I'm thankful to God...': Nashville pastor Matthew Sullivan gave cops his school key to help take down Audrey Hale

Matthew Sullivan said he's 'certainly not brave' despite playing a key role in identifying and allowing cops to take down the Nashville school shooter

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: A Nashville pastor who was seen on police body cam assisting them to break into the elementary Christian school when a trans shooter burst in, is thankful more students were not killed in the massacre. Matthew Sullivan was one of two staff members who bravely ushered cops into The Covenant School where Audrey Hale gunned down three 9-year-old children and three staff members before being shot dead by police on March 27. 

Sullivan reportedly gave his keys to police to access them inside the school and could be seen on the bodycam pointing police in the direction of Hale, who was tragically shooting victims at the time. The pastor claimed he was "certainly not brave" despite his support helping play a key role in the mass shooting. "I'm ok but pray like you never have," he posted on the day of the disturbing rampage, as per Daily Mail.

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Hale, who was biologically female and recently began using 'he/him' pronouns, was a former student at the school. She gunned down three 9-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, school janitor Mike Hill, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, and headmistress Katherine Koonce. However, the motive behind the mass shooting remains unclear, as it is reported Hale was at odds with her devout Christian parents because they "couldn't accept" she was gay and transgender. Police Chief John Drake said Hale had been suffering from an "emotional disorder" and described her as having "high-functioning" autism and was under doctors' care. Her parents, Norma and Ronald Hale, were reportedly aware of the weapons and asked her to sell them as she couldn't be trusted with them, instead, Hale hid her stockpile. 

Who is pastor Matthew Sullivan?

Matthew Sullivan is the Chaplain at The Covenant School of Nashville. At the time of the shooting outbreak, His son, Jack, started weeping when he saw his father aiding the officers. "I just started crying when I saw it," Jack told WSMV. "Thinking about what he was experiencing." "I'm a teacher myself. I was in school and my phone started blowing up that there was shooter at my dad's school and I was just terrified, all my thoughts running through my head."

Jack said his father is safe but is still in shock and recovering from its aftermath. On Wednesday, Sullivan paid tribute to one of the victims of the attack, Dieckhaus, along with a photo of himself while babysitting the nine-year-old. Sullivan marked the first funeral from the tragic event on Friday saying, "First funeral today. May the Lord wrap His big arms around the family through us."

A slew of frantic 911 calls 

A frantic slew of calls from inside the school described the panic moment students and teachers hid after hearing rounds of gunshot fire. A teacher who called 911 while holding students close as they hid inside a cabinet in the art room said, "We think we hear gunshots," reported Daily Mail. Whilst weeping students could be heard saying, "I want to go home." The dispatcher then asked, "Are you in a safe spot right now?" "I think so," the woman responded. "We are in the closet," before adding, "I'm hearing more shots." Another male staff who hid inside a room on the second floor where Hale was shot told an officer on the 911 call, "I'm on the second floor in a room. I think the shooter is on the second floor."

Initially, the first 911 call was made by a man who noticed Hale blow bullets into the school door and break in. "I saw a man with an assault rifle shooting through the doors," the witness said. He said he saw a man donned in camouflage pants and a vest break into the second-grade hallway and then a woman gets on the line and said, "they are on the south side of the building... I know he's shooting in the upstairs hallway." "Approximately how many shots have you heard?" the dispatcher asked. "A lot," the woman responded. "I heard about 10 and I left the building." The brave woman then evacuated the school with six students and was walking them down the street.