After a mass shooting in Nashville private school, one of the officers praised for acting quickly is Officer Rex Engelbert.
On March 27th, Monday morning it only took fourteen minutes for The Covenant School to experience a horrific tragedy. Accompanied by reports of six dead, there is multiple body camera footage of first responders’ point of view when encountering the shooting.
The main officer leading the charge is Rex Engelbert, a Chicago native.
Described as a “gentle giant” many friends and relatives were not surprised at how much praise he received. Nor at the fact he opened fire at the shooter.
News of who led the team of five was released the following day. Officer Engelbert and Officer Michael Collazo are the first named leading three other officers into the school. The officers entered the building without establishing a perimeter around the school. The only information about the situation Engelbert received came from a student official waiting to greet them outside.
The kids are all locked down, but we have two kids that we don’t know where they are,” says a woman. The officer responds with a “OK. Yes, ma’am,” before she points to the direction of where they heard rapid gunfire. “Upstairs are a bunch of kids.”
Camcord footage from Engelbert’s body camera shows him as the first asses the situation before quickly entering the Christian building. Without waiting for backup, Engelbert directed his group towards the Fellowship Hall where staff recently just heard gunshots.
Already armed with long guns Engelbert wasted no time.
“Hey, gimme three. Let’s get three,” he directed other officers as they searched each room one by one. Running right towards shooting on the second floor, Engelbert and Collazo opened fire after a “Get your hands away from the gun!”
Ties With Hometown Chicago
Despite living in Nashville with his fiance, Engelbert is a born citizen of Chicago. Before he joined the police department, he attended Dayton University in Ohio where he graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice.
The officer is one of the first to respond after the shooter, a few hours earlier shot in a door of the school before ducking inside and killing three nine-year-olds and three custodians.
Those at home have left many comments from Chicago about Engelbert’s heroics.
“This is the hero that we’ve missed in many other situations as tragic as this. Thank you officer.”
“He just followed his training and is glad that his training kicked in and his fortitude withheld,” Engelberts eldest brother said in response to the days events. ““He’s incredibly passionate about what he does. He’s always been a gentle giant and he’s always there for those in need.”
Discussions of How to Solve School Shootings
After the unfortunate incident, many news coverages broach the topic of school shootings with students and parents alike. After the increase in violence in schools many point out that “parents can not be sure if the children are safe when learning anymore.”
Frequently lawmakers give condolences in events such as this however there is a hesitation to pass laws to prevent guns from reaching untrained and dangerous hands.
Audrey Hale, the attacker of the Nashville school shooting was not a student of the school. Instead, the 28-year-old who attends the Nossi College of Art and Design decided to storm the school. He was identified with multiple armed weapons. including two AR-style weapons, a rifle, and multiple handguns.
The attacker’s parents denied knowing their son owned the weapons. Instead, it is believed that he hid them within the house before the shooting took place.
Despite this being the 19th school shooting in the past three months. Guns rights activist still have not changed their position, with statements such as “What stops armed bad guys is armed good guys.”
A professor at the University of Alabama, Adam Lankford, in response disagrees based on empirical evidence.
However, in most cases, gun-related crime is usually over before reinforcements with weapons appear on the scene. Many cases have the attacker either turning their weapon onto themselves to evade capture or simply fleeing the scene after the shooting.
“It’s direct, indisputable, empirical evidence that this kind of common claim – is wrong,” Lankford explains. “It’s demonstrably false, because often they are stopping themselves.”
Written by Brielle R. Buford
Sources:
Dayton Daily News: Chicago hometown reacts to UD grad who helped take down Nashville school shooter
CBSChicago: Nashville police officer who helped take down school shooter was from Chicago area
The New York Times: Who Stops a ‘Bad Guy With a Gun’?
Featured and Top Image Courtesy of Lorie Shaull’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of ThoseGuys119’s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
