3 children and 3 adults are dead in a shooting at a Christian school in Nashville
Three children and three adults
were killed in a shooting at a private religious school in Nashville,
authorities said.
The shooter, who police
said was a white 28-year-old from the Nashville area, was shot dead by
two officers.
The
shooting occurred at Covenant School, a private religious school in Nashville.
The three children who died were students, and the three adults who died were
staff members, Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron said in a press briefing
Monday.
Authorities identified
the victims Monday afternoon:
- Evelyn
Dieckhaus, age 9
- Hallie
Scruggs, age 9
- William
Kinney, age 9
- Cynthia
Peak, age 61
- Katherine
Koonce, age 60
- Mike Hill,
age 61
Koonce served as the head of the
school, according to the school's website.
The first call came in at 10:13
a.m. The shooter "entered the school through a side entrance and traversed
her way from the first floor to the second floor, firing multiple shots,"
Aaron said.
The shooter had two assault-style
rifles and at least one pistol, he said, and the shooting took place in a
"lobby-type area" in an upper part of the school. The shooter was
dead by 10:27 a.m., he added.
Police said the shooter was a
former student but have not said anything about a potential motive. On Monday
afternoon, police identified the shooter as Audrey Hale of Nashville.
Hale had multiple rounds of
ammunition and was "prepared for a confrontation with law
enforcement," Drake said.
Drake said the parents of the
children who were killed have been notified. "Right now, I will refrain
from saying the ages other than to say, I was literally moved to tears to see
this and the kids as they were being ushered out of the building," he said
earlier.
At least five of the victims were
transported to emergency departments at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. A
spokesperson for the hospital confirmed to NPR that three children and two
adults sent to the hospital had died.
Aaron said he was not aware of any
other gunshot victims from the shooting. He said a responding officer had a
wound from cut glass.
A reunification center for parents
and students has been set up nearby with mental health specialists available.
According to its website, the Covenant
School is a private school associated with the Covenant Presbyterian Church
serving students from preschool through sixth grade. On a regular day there
would be about 209 students and 42 staff members at the school, Aaron said.
Mayor John Cooper said Nashville
was joining the "dreaded, long list" of cities and towns that have
suffered school shootings.
"My heart goes out to the
families of the victims," Cooper said. "Our entire city stands with
you."
Tennessee state Rep. Bob Freeman,
whose district includes the school, said it was "an unimaginable tragedy
for the victims, all the children, families, teachers, staff and my entire
community. I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have
friends who attend both church and school there. I have also visited the church
in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this," WPLNreported.
State Sen. Jeff Yarbro, who
represents Nashville, said onTwitter: "My heart breaks for the families at Covenant. As a parent, I
both ache for them and rage with them that fear of this kind of tragedy is just
accepted as just part of what it means to raise kids these days."
President Biden called the
Nashville shooting "sick" and "heartbreaking," saying it
was "a family's worst nightmare."
"We have to do more to stop
gun violence. It's ripping our communities apart, ripping at the very soul of
our nation," he said at the White House.
According to the national Gun
Violence Archive, there have been 128 mass shootings in the U.S. this year.
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