Officer decommissioned over Facebook post apparently referencing MN shooting

Stuart Ervin

NASHVILLE, TN -- A Metro police officer is under investigation for a post he made on his personal Facebook page referencing the officer-involved shooting in Minnesota.

Officer Anthony Venable has been decommissioned pending the results of the investigation.

According to police, Venable wrote, "Yeah. I would have done 5" in an apparent reference to the number of shots in the Minnesota case.

When questioned by a supervisor on Thursday, Venable acknowledged the post but said it was sarcasm directed at another person he was communicating with on Facebook.

The Office of Professional Accountability is investigating 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," Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson said.

Venable is an eight-year veteran of the department. According to the Metro police website, he was named the field operations bureau police officer of the year in 2014.

WSMV

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