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They’re being hailed on social media as brave. Heroes.
Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo are the officers the Metro Nashville Police Department said ended Monday morning’s mass shooting at Covenant School. They accomplished it with urgency, communication and a passion to protect.
Engelbert is a four-year veteran of the police department; Collazo has been on the force nine years. Chief John Drake said during a news conference Tuesday afternoon that Collazo has trained as a paramedic with the SWAT team.
‘Above and beyond’:Nashville police moved fast, saved lives in Covenant shooting, experts say
And now, they’re being celebrated, not only throughout the Nashville neighborhood of Green Hills where the mass shooting occurred, but across America.
Compliments as far as Texas
Their moment of national recognition occurs at a time when Americans are often at odds with law enforcement, often due to past systemic policing. After MNPD released Engelbert and Collazo’s names, praise poured in across social media. Within three hours of making a post Tuesday, the tweet has received more than 9,000 retweets, nearly 40,000 likes and about 4,000 replies.
The Fort Worth Police Officers’ Association said Engelbert and Collazo’s work was well done.
“We are proud of these heroic officers for their bravery and courage to face evil,” they association said.
Body camera footage show Engelbert and Collazo’s confrontation inside Covenant School
When Nashville police got the call that an active shooter was roaming the halls of Covenant School, dozens of officers descended upon the building.
Audrey Hale, 28, was armed with a rifle and had already shot students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, as well as Katherine Koonce, the head of the school, custodian Mike Hill and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.
Police got the first call to 911 at 10:13 a.m.
By 10:24 a.m. Hale was dead.
Body camera footage released from the shooting shows Engelbert armed with a rifle, taking lead in the line of officers clearing the school.
Engelbert fired at least three shots at Hale.
Following closely behind Engelbert was Collazo, who fired four rounds at Hale.
Most people simply had one thing to say about the officers.
“Heroes,” their messages said.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville shooting: Who are officers Rex Engelbert, Michael Collazo?
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