The president of the Nashville Police Fraternal Order is saluting the officers of “true heroism” displayed when responding to the explosion of Christmas Day in the city.
“What we witnessed … yesterday morning was nothing short of heroism and courageous actions on the part of those six policemen, who received a call about shots being fired in the area and advanced against danger like any other policeman in our country would do,” James Smallwood, president of the Fraternal Police Order (FOP) in Nashville, Tennessee, told FOX & Friends Weekend on Saturday morning.
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A vehicle blast occurred at 6:30 am Friday morning outside a building on 2nd Avenue in Nashville, the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department tweeted. Officers Brenna Hosey, James Luellen, Michael Sipos, Amanda Topping and James Wells, as well as the sergeant. Timothy Miller, responded to the incident.
“When they got there, obviously the danger continued to increase,” said Smallwood. “And they acted quickly and started working on the streets and in the neighborhood to get residents out of the area and pedestrians out of the area.”
“They stand between good and evil,” he added. “And they saved lives, no doubt.”
Nashville Mayor John Cooper also praised officials during a press conference on Friday night.
“These incredible heroes, who ran into danger with uncertain results ahead, were responsible for so many injuries saved,” said Cooper. “They are heroes.”
Several of the responding officers were new to the force or had less than two years of experience, anchor Pete Hegseth of “Fox & Friends” said during the interview. Smallwood said department officials are trained to “take quick action to protect the community they serve”.
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“We do everything we can to provide the best possible training for our officers, but we cannot predict every situation,” said Smallwood.
Smallwood said the incident remains under investigation.
“We have local, state and federal agents, all working together, trying to piece together this puzzle,” added ge. “There are many questions that need to be answered.”
Metro Nashville PD asks anyone with information to contact the authorities through Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463 or online via http://fbi.gov/nashville.