Officer Rex Engelbert was one of the officers who helped take down a school shooter that terrorized the people inside The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee and he spoke out about the incident in a press conference on Tuesday.
He was en route to the Metro Police Academy on Mar. 27 to get some work done, but as he was driving outside of his precinct, he ended up near the school.
“I really had no business being where I was,” said Engelbert. “I think you can call it fate or God.”
Engelbert was the one who fired at the suspect, but he was then relieved of duty.
“I was told to sit in my car and that was difficult because I could tell there was more work to be done,” he said.
A reporter asked the officers, who are all fathers, how they would explain what happened that day to their children.
Detective Sgt. Jeff Mathes, who has an 11-month-old baby, said he would have that conversation with his son when he is ready.
“Obviously it’s difficult,” he said. “The biggest thing that I will instill in him is how proud I am of the actions not only of other officers but what I did.”
The police also praised the staff members of The Covenant School, who they say helped them take down the shooter.
“They stayed on scene,” recalled Engelbert. “They didn’t run and they gave me concise and clear information for me to use to help anyone in danger.”
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