'All of us stepped over a victim’: Nashville cops reveal horror after tragic school shooting
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Nashville police have finally responded to how they felt about the brutal shooting that was held at The Covenant School. The police explained their horror and shock over the incident that killed six people, including three nine-year-old children and three adults.
The victims include Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, William Kinney, Cynthia Peak, Mike Hill, and Dr Katherine Koonce. A former student of the school, Audrey Hale, 28-year-old transgender, is considered the suspect in the case. However, the motive of the killings is not yet clear, and the investigation of the case is still ongoing.
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What did the police say?
“Last Monday was a day that we all hope we’d never see anywhere, and especially here in Nashville," Police Chief John Drake said. Det Michael Collazo and Officer Rex Engelbert fired the fatal shots at Hale, and Det Sergeant Jeff Mathes joined the team later. “The smell of gunpowder was in the air," Mathes said. Further, he added, “All of us stepped over a victim. I, to this day, do not know how I did that morally. But training is what kicked in.” “I couldn’t get to it fast enough," Engelbert said. Engelbert was later removed from duty, and he claimed, "That was pretty difficult to do, because I could tell there was more work to be done." Another officer, Collazo, cleared off the ground floor of the institution. “That’s when everything kinda kicked into overdrive for us," Collazo said. He then took the people along with him to the second floor. “It clicked for every officer that was on scene that it was time to start trying to render aid to the victims and trying to evacuate the school," Collazo said. "Those officers immediately went in; they just wanted to save kids," said Drake, as per USA Today.
How did the school staffers help in the rescue?
“The teachers had gone through active aggressor, active shooter training recently. Their efforts also saved lives. They knew how to have kids on the wall away from the windows, out of the hallways, where we could have had a lot more casualties; they were able to protect these kids as well," said Drake. Midtown Hills Precinct Commander Dayton Wheeler shared important information with the police upon their arrival. He said, “The preparation that the school did (for) that day,” Wheeler said. “The training they went through, which mirrored with the response of the police department, saved countless lives." Meanwhile, on the right of the school shooting, Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security Director Gregory Mays has now planned a $205 million investment in enhancing the security at schools. Mays said on Monday, April 3, “We will be looking at eliminating threats against schools before it gets to the school. Every school shooter has demonstrated pre-attack behaviors leading up to the shooting. We go out and do some interviews and try to get that person off that pathway to violence.” The increase in the budget for security will almost double the state’s Homeland Security presence from 18 to 30 officers. Another increase will be $140 million to add school resource officers in 1,860 schools, as per The Tennessean.
