News

Actions

'We're going in:' Nashville police tells principals they would stop school shooters

school students
Posted
and last updated

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Police Department leadership let Metro school principals know they're ready in case the worst happens this school year.

The reassurance comes after a scathing report saying police in Uvalde, Texas, showed "egregious poor decision making" during the school shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers, with police waiting more than an hour to engage the shooter.

At an in-service training Tuesday with 100 Metro elementary school administrators, Metro Police Chief John Drake told teachers in the case of a school shooting, his officers won't hesitate to enter a school to stop the shooter.

"We're going in," Drake told the principals, according to Metro Police.

Eric Hartfelder, the principal at Eakin Elementary School, was at the meeting.

"Hearing him say 'We're going in,' That's what I wanted to hear as a Metro parent and a principal, and I know I'm not alone in that," Hartfelder said. "His presence was incredibly helpful."

Preparation for something all attendees at the meeting hope they never have to face.

"It's really a rallying cry, to say, 'We got this, and we're going to take care of this together because every single child in our city deserves it,'" Hartfelder said.