Police Bodycam Footage From Nashville School Shooting Reveals What Happened When The Suspect Was Confronted

Everything seemed to be normal on Monday morning at The Covenant School, a private Christian school that serves preschool through 6th grade. The facility is nestled in Green Hills, an affluent area of Nashville that is known to be safe and family-friendly. Just before 10 a.m., the shooter pulled into the parking lot driving a Honda Fit, and minutes later, she entered the school by breaking the glass of the side door. At 10:13 a.m., Metro Nashville Police Department received the first call about her presence. The suspect was later identified as Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old woman who previously attended The Covenant School and identified as a transgender man. She used he/him pronouns on her LinkedIn profile (which was wiped from the internet, along with all of her other pages) and described herself as a graphic designer and illustrator.

On the morning of the murders, Hale privately messaged Averianna Patton, an old schoolmate she used to play basketball with. "So basically that post I made on here about you, that was basically a suicide note. I'm planning to die today," she told Averianna. "You'll probably hear about me on the news after I die. This is my last goodbye." Averianna urged her to reconsider and says she was praying for her. It wasn't enough to stop Hale. She went on a killing spree and murdered three 9-year-old children and three adults who were working at the school. Officials released police bodycam footage to show what really transpired on the morning of that tragedy.

Police Bodycam Footage from Nashville School Shooting Reveal What Happened When the Suspect Was Confronted

Following the Uvalde school shooting on May 24, 2022, there was much criticism about the way the situation was handled by law enforcement. Footage revealed that officials waited outside for one whole hour while the gunman shot 19 children and two teachers. Surveillance cameras in the hallways of the school showed that officers with firearms and ballistic shields just stood in a hallway while shots were clearly being fired inside a classroom. There is even footage of a police officer, decked out in a bulletproof vest and helmet, loitering around the hallway and getting a squirt of hand sanitizer while children were being murdered. This all raised multiple questions and concerns about the level of protection and security that law enforcement can offer when there is a gunman on the loose, especially in the presence of young children.

But Nashville law enforcement officials released the bodycam footage the day after the shooting at The Covenant School. This transparency from police was a pleasant surprise in the midst of so much tragedy. Officers Michael Collazo and Rex Englebert were among the brave officers who rushed straight into the line of fire without wasting a single minute to respond to the shooter. In the bodycam footage of Officer Collazo, the officers can be seen starting on the first floor and the alarm in the school is blaring in the background. Officers are seen moving quickly after they encounter a locked door on the second floor; they return to the first floor to find an open entry point. Officer Collazo is heard directing the men, pushing them forward and encouraging them to move swiftly.

"Hit the stairs. Go. Stairs, go," he says to the other officers as they continue trying to find the shooter. "Keep pushing." A victim can be seen lying on the ground. "We've got one down," an officer says in the background.

"Shots fired. Move!" he says as you can hear the shots being fired by Hale. The footage reveals the officers running down a hallway on the second floor toward the gunshots. They don't hesitate to enter a lobby area where Hale is. They open fire swiftly and take her down.

"Stop moving! Stop moving!" Officer Collazo yells at Hale after she is on the ground. "Suspect down, suspect down," he says into his radio. Hale can be seen lying on the ground in front of the atrium window.

It only took the officers four minutes to take down Hale after they arrived on scene. Nashville Police Chief John Drake said investigators believe Hale may have had some training in order to fire from an elevated position that was slightly away from the window in order to not be "an easy target." Regardless, the officers who neutralized Hale and prevented her from killing more people are being hailed as heroes for their timely, brave response to the shooting.

Reportedly, Hale left written material indicating that she was planning this attack as well as a manifesto. But this has not been released to the public yet. People are also demanding to know whether she was on any psychiatric medications or hormone blockers, as she identified as a trans male. None of this information has been shared yet.