NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A Metro police officer has been decommissioned for a post he made on his personal Facebook page.

According to a release, Hermitage Precinct Midnight shift Officer Anthony Venable was immediately decommissioned pending the results of an internal investigation.

During a Facebook conversation, Venable wrote, “Yeah, I would have done 5.” This was an apparent reference to the number of shots fired in the Minnesota officer-involved shooting that occurred Wednesday.

His supervisors learned about the post at 3 p.m. Thursday.

When questioned by a supervisor, Venable acknowledged the post, but said it was a form of sarcasm directed at a person he was talking to on Facebook.

The Office of Professional Accountability has launched 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.

He added, “What he said does not in any way represent the men and women of this police department. It was a disservice to the city of Nashville, it was a disservice to this police department. It was a disservice to every individual officer out on the street. It’s something that can’t be tolerated. It’s something we are going to take very seriously. He may have disqualified himself to be a police officer.”

Venable has been with the police department for eight years.