NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Neighbors in both West Nashville and Madison woke up to tactical teams, officials with the Drug Enforcement Administration and other heavily armed officers Tuesday morning as multiple raids unfolded across the city.

Residents along Cabot Drive described sirens, flash bangs and federal agents climbing ladders into an apartment, as law enforcement swarmed the area.

“It was like six in the morning. I was asleep with my kids, and I heard sirens. I woke up and I saw blue lights surrounding the whole apartment complex,” Cabot Drive resident Matt S., who asked not to be fully identified, told News 2. “...I looked to my right, and I see these SWAT people climbing a ladder, breaking the window on this apartment, and they threw four flash bangs — grenades, then proceeded to raid another apartment. The dude came out. They put him in cuffs. From what we were told, it was a drug operation.”

Multiple agencies were on scene, including the DEA, the Metro Nashville Police Department, the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"They had us on lockdown," Matt added. "We couldn't go in or go out."

In Madison, Elliott Kravits said his family was jolted awake by loudspeakers just after 7 a.m.

“They were definitely heavily-armed. It kind of woke me up first thing in the morning," Kravits said. "...I heard them over a loudspeaker telling people that everyone in the house needs to get out of the house immediately ... At that time, there was only a white van with blue lights flashing — unlettered van — PD SUV. By the time I walked back over to my house, I had seen a very military-looking DEA truck pulling up to the house as well with more heavily-armed officers."

Both Matt and Kravits said they were left with few answers about why their neighborhoods became the focus of federal raids.

“[If it’s] for drug-related things, I’m all for it. I want the neighborhood to be as safe as possible,” Kravits said. “If it’s ICE, I don’t think they belong in that neighborhood at all.”

Matt said the incident was enough to make him consider moving.

“I'd been thinking about moving, but this put the icing on the cake," Matt said.

The MNPD and the U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Tuesday that these raids were tied to an ongoing federal criminal case. Agencies were executing search and arrest warrants. Officials stressed these were not immigration raids.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/residents-react-madison-west-nashville-fed-raids/