How Nashville Shooting Bodycam Footage Compares With Uvalde Police Actions

Social media users are comparing the police bodycam footage from the Nashville and Uvalde school shootings, with one describing the difference as "night and day."

On Monday, 28-year-old Audrey Hale opened fire at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, leaving six people dead, including three children. Footage released by the Metro Nashville Police Department shows officers swiftly storming the building, before two officers, Michael Collazo and Rex Engelbert, opened fire, killing the attacker.

The tragedy brought back memories of the nation's third deadliest school shooting on May 24, 2022, when 18-year-old Salvador Ramos killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

The police then were severely criticized for waiting over an hour before taking down the suspect, with a Texas House committee report concluding they "failed to prioritize saving the lives of innocent victims over their own safety."

Police were first alerted to the Nashville school shooting at 10:13 a.m., arriving at the school at 10:24 a.m. and shooting the attacker dead at 10:27 a.m.

By contrast, the Robb Elementary School attack began at around 11:28 a.m., but didn't conclude until 12:50 p.m., with police taking more than an hour to storm the building.

In the Nashville bodycam footage, from officers Collazo and Engelbert, police can be seen almost immediately entering the school, after arriving on scene, then hunting down and killing the attacker within a matter of minutes. However Uvalde bodycam footage showed a large number of officers holding defensive positions, then moving slowly through the school, rather than rushing to eliminate the shooter.

One Twitter user posted 19 seconds of police bodycam footage from Nashville and Uvalde, with the former above the latter, commenting: "Uvalde vs Nashville police response. Night and day difference."

The video was watched more than 240,000 times, and received over 900 retweets.

In response one Twitter user wrote: "I see men at top, and cowards below."

Another commented: "Amazing work from those Nashville officers."

However a third argued the two events were very different, posting: "Can't compare these two situations. Both tragic and horrible but in Uvalde the teachers needed easy access to their smoking area so doors were left unlocked...Totally different scenarios because of the school admin.

Newsweek has contacted both the Uvalde Police Department and Metro Nashville Police Department for comment by telephone.

The Metro Nashville Police Department also released a video showing Hale gaining entry to the Covenant School by shooting glass panels out of two doors, then climbing through. It said Hale was armed with "two assault-type guns and a 9 millimeter pistol."