Hero Nashville cop who took down transgender school shooter is Marine Corps vet trends now
The hero cops who stopped a transgender school shooter in Nashville are a Marine Corps veteran and an award-winning officer.
Michael Collazo, 31, and Rex Engelbert, 27, of the Nashville Metro Police, have been hailed heroes after taking down Audrey Hale, 28, on Monday after she had shot and killed six at The Covenant School.
Hale opened fire inside the small, church-run private elementary school on the outskirts of the city shortly before 10.13am. Dramatic bodycam footage showed Englebert and Collazo shooting her dead by 10.27am.
Collazo is a Marine Corps veteran who responded to the Christmas 2020 bombing, which also took place in Nashville, where Anthony Quinn Warner detonated a bomb downtown, killing himself and injuring eight others.
Collazo, a nine-year veteran of the force, is also a former firefighter and has previously served as a SWAT team paramedic. He has a young daughter, according to Fox News.
Michael Collazo, 31, is a Marine Corps veteran who responded to the Christmas 2020 bombing, and has also worked as a firefighter and SWAT team paramedic
Engelbert received an award last week for 'precision policing' for his work recovering more than 20 stolen credit cards, a handgun, and fentanyl
Englebert (left) fired first with his rifle, striking her. Collazo then approached her body to strip it of weapons and checked if shooter Audrey Hale was still alive on Monday
The Nashville native had joined the Marine Corps directly out of high school and is said to have relied on his military training throughout the active shooter situation, his older sister Deanna Collazo DeHart told Fox News.
'He really does love his job. When I sit and think about all the training and all the different classes that he does, and all the family events that he's had to miss because of training or leaving to go through this training or this class… it all really does pay off,' she said.
'[He's] obviously very brave, braver than I've ever imagined,' she said. 'To see the bravery of all of them just storming and clearing the rooms is absolutely phenomenal.'
Engelbert, a four-year veteran, was one of the first officers on the scene and deployed the precision shots that took initially took Hale down. Officer Collazo, a nine-year veteran of the force, approached with a handgun next, firing another four shots while Hale flailed on the ground, before approaching her body and stripping it of weapons.
Engelbert received an award last week for 'precision policing' for his work recovering more than 20 stolen credit cards, a handgun, and fentanyl, Fox News reported.
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