Hero officers who killed Nashville shooting suspect identified

NASHVILLE (TND) — Authorities have identified the two Nashville police officers who killed mass shooting suspect Audrey Hale during the massacre at the Covenant School Monday.

Officers Rex Englebert and Michael Collazo shot and killed Hale just 14 minutes after the initial shots fired call was made to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, according to Fox17 News.

Hale is suspected of murdering six individuals, including three nine-year-old children, after breaching the entrance at the Presbyterian private school. Hale was a former student at the school, police say.

Nashville police Chief John Drake said Monday that Hale, a transgender woman, left behind a manifesto as well as "maps drawn of the school in detail of surveillance entry points."

Social media users applauded Englebert's and Collazo's heroism Monday night, calling the duo "great Americans" who prevented "an even larger tragedy."

HEROES! Nashville Police Officers Rex Englebert and Michael Collazo immediately stopped the monster who murdered three children and three adults in cold blood yesterday at the Covenant School," the National Fraternal Order of Police tweeted.

Though the exact motive behind the massacre is still unknown, authorities said Monday that the Covenant School was specifically targeted.

Police also said Hale fired at police cars from the second floor of the building when officers arrived on the scene. Hale was armed with three guns and had "significant ammunition," police note.