Three Nashville police officers who were first to respond tolast week’s school shootingare speaking out for the first time about the horror.

A28-year-old shooter opened fireatthe Covenant Schoolon March 27,killing three staff members and three 9-year-old students.

Detective Sgt. Jeff Mathes,Detective Michael Collazo and officer Rex Engelbertspoke about how they stopped the shooter and evacuated the school.

Metro Nashville police officers Rex Engelbert (left), and Michael Collazo.Metropolitan Nashville Police Department

2 Hero Officers Confronted, Fatally Shot Nashville School Shooter

Mathes and Englebert entered the school together and were clearing rooms on the first floor, when they heard gunfire on the second floor.

“Thesmell of gunpowderwas in the air,” Mathes recalled.

“All of us stepped over a victim,” he continued. “I, to this day, do not know how I did that morally. But training is what kicked in.”

Officer Rex Engelbert.Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean/USA TODAY NETWORK

Officer Rex Engelbert talks about responding to the Covenant School shooting during a news conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. Sitting next to him are two other officers who were part of the response are sitting with him, Detective Sergeant Jeff Mathes, center, and Detective Michael Collazo.

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Collazo was also clearing rooms on the first floor whenhe rushed upstairs after hearing gunshots.

“That’s when everything kind of kicked into overdrive for us,” he said.

As the three officers moved toward the sound of the gunfire, Collazo saw that Engelbert had a scope on his rifle.

Shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville.Jonathan Mattise/AP/Shutterstock

The Covenant School shooting

“Not knowing where the shooter was and the distance that we would possibly encounter with the shooter, [I] asked Officer Rex [Engelbert] to push forward for us,” Collazo remembered on Tuesday. “Which he did without hesitation.”

After Engelbert moved to the front, he fired multiple rounds when he saw the shooter near a window. As the other officers moved closer, Collazo also opened fire.

“Suspect down, suspect down,” Collazo said.

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Once the shooter was dead, the officers turned their attention to those who had been shot.

“It clicked for every officer that was on scene that it was time to start trying to render aid to the victims and trying to evacuate the school,” Collazo explained.

After Collazo finished talking about his experience at the press conference, Drake returned to the podium to praise the officers.

“Those officers immediately went in,” he said. “They just wanted to save kids.”

source: people.com