Police in Nashville wasted little time with an active shooter on the loose inside a Nashville private school Monday. Newly-released police body cam video released by Metro Nashville Police shows officers racing to the school and running towards the building.
Three children and three adults were killed before police took down the shooter at The Covenant School. Many are saying if not for the officers who responded, it could have been even more tragic.
"It was an incredible job, they knew exactly what to do," said David O'Laughlin, director of training for the Municipal Police Institute. "Massachusetts officers are trained very similarly to what you saw in that bodycam footage."
In the edited body cam video provided by police, officers can be seen teaming up in groups of four before entering the school. The officers, many carrying long guns, sweep room-by-room as they move through the hallways.
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"This was a very impressive action by the officers," said Kenneth Gray, a University of New Haven criminal justice professor and former FBI Special Agent. "This shows how useful an active shooter protocol is when you are dealing with this type of situation."
In the body cam video, officers can be seen running up the stairs of the school, and then down a hallway toward the sound of gunfire.
"Speed is of the utmost importance, you want to clear the rooms, you have to be safe," said Tim Gallagher a managing director at Kroll, and former FBI Special-Agent-in Charge. "Every second that goes by in an active shooter incident more innocent victims can die."
On Tuesday, Metro Nashville's Police Chief said he talked with President Biden and that the President said he planned to call the officers and thank them.
"This is the right way to handle this kind of situation," Professor Gray said. "They disregarded their own safety and went instead towards the sound of gunfire, so they could save lives."
"These officers were heroic," he added.
