A Metro Nashville Police officer has been decommissioned over a Facebook conversation in reference to the recent police-involved shooting that killed Philando Castile in Minnesota.
Anthony Venable is a Hermitage Precinct midnight shift Officer. Supervisors became aware of the post at 3 p.m. Thursday, in which Venable, during a Facebook conversation, wrote, “Yeah. I would have done 5,” an apparent reference to the number of shots in the Minnesota case.
When questioned by a supervisor late this afternoon, Venable acknowledged the post, but said it was a form of sarcasm directed at a person with whom he was messaging with on the site.
The Office of Professional Accountability has opened an investigation into the specific posting and Venable’s Facebook conversation.
“The police department is treating this matter very seriously and took immediate action, regardless of what he claims the context to have been,” Chief Anderson said.
Venable has been with the police department for eight years.
