Nashville Officer Compares Theater Shootout To His Marine Deployments

Nashville police Officer Jonathan Frith had been in shootouts before — but never like what he faced Wednesday inside the Carmike Hickory 8 movie theater.

“A lot closer,” said Frith, who saw battle as a Marine before he joined the force six years ago. “It was a lot closer of an engagement this time.”

Frith was among the first officers at the Antioch theater, and he said it was “pure chance” that brought him face-to-face with Vincente David Montano, who died about 21 minutes later after multiple shootouts with police.

Frith, who had been working a nearby traffic crash, was among officers who looked into the theater through the window of the projection room. The other movie-goers had already fled and the dimly lit auditorium was clouded with chemical spray.

Seeing no one below, officers decided they had to go inside.

“Just by pure chance, I went to the left and immediately upon entering the theater, I was engaged with what I perceived to be small arms fire,” Frith said.

It turned out to be a shot from Montano’s Airsoft gun, which Frith said he felt on his face. Frith fired back one time with his rifle.

“All I could see was the silhouette of a figure,” he said.

The exchange “shocked” Sgt. Mike Swoner, who had arrived to formulate a plan for what became a standoff.

Police said four members of the SWAT team entered the auditorium, using the disorienting blast of a “flash bang,” and became embroiled in a standoff that included several volleys of shots. Montano took cover but continued to hurl pepper spray canisters at the officers, police said.

Credit Where It’s Due

Frith wouldn’t take credit as a “hero” — a word circulating on social media.

“I have to give credit to where the credit’s due, and that’s to our training department,” Frith said. “It wasn’t easy. No incident like that is ever easy by any means.“

But Swoner, his supervisor, said it was Frith who took charge immediately.

“I was in the military, so my family is used to me being in harm’s way,” Frith said. “They know this is what I want to do. It’s my choice.”

The officer said he had some advantage knowing the theater had flat seating. He grew up nearby and had seen movies there.

He was asked how he was doing today.

“I’m still standing.”