Nashville police officer who helped take down school shooter was from Chicago area
NASHVILLE (CBS) -- One of the hero police officers credited with taking down the school shooter in Nashville, Tennessee, grew up in the Chicago aera.
Officer Rex Engelbert graduated from Loyola Academy in Wilmette in 2014.
Engelbert was part of a team of five officers who arrived at the Covenant School within minutes Monday morning – running right toward the sound of gunfire.
Police say their quick actions likely saved additional lives. But it was too late for six victims - 9-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, as well as three school staffers – 61-year-old Cynthia Peak, 60-year-old Katherine Koonce and 61-year-old Mike Hill.
Substitute teacher Peak is survived by a husband and three children. Custodian Hill was the father of seven who had worked at the school for 14 years. Parents called head of the school Koonce a "saint" for finding ways to help children in need.
Police identified the shooter as Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old from Nashville, who officials said was armed with at least two assault-style weapons and a handgun. Authorities released body camera footage Tuesday of police officers responding to the shooting and taking down the assailant.
Nashville Police Chief John Drake Drake on Monday described the guns used to carry out the shooting as two "AR-style weapons" — a rifle and a pistol — in addition to another handgun.
He said Tuesday the shooter legally purchased seven firearms from five different gun local stores, and that three of those seven weapons were used in the shooting.
The shooter's parents were aware that the shooter owned one weapon, but were under the impression that the shooter had sold that weapon and did not own any others, Drake said. Police learned that the shooter "had been hiding several weapons within the house," he added.
The shooter "was under doctor's care for an emotional disorder," according to the police chief.