Ex-student at Tennessee Christian school shoots three children and three adults to death. In a private Christian school the suspect once att...
Ex-student at Tennessee Christian school shoots three children and three adults to death.
In a private Christian school the suspect once attended in the state's capital city on Monday, a heavily armed 28-year-old fatally murdered three children and three adult staff members before being shot and killed by police, according to authorities.
While the motivation was not immediately clear, Police Chief John Drake informed reporters that the suspect had left behind a "manifesto" and other documents that police were looking over, as well as comprehensive blueprints of the school that included the building's entrances.
The Covenant School, where most of the youngsters are of primary school age, was the scene of the most recent incident in an epidemic of deadly mass gun violence that has regularly terrorized even the most beloved of American institutions.
Drake spoke to the attacker using female pronouns and described her as a 28-year-old Nashville-area resident by the name of Audrey Elizabeth Hale.
She does identify as transgender, the chief responded to questioning from reporters. It wasn't made clear if the suspect was a guy or a woman.
Drake stated during a news conference in the early evening that police were developing a "theory" regarding what might have sparked the shooting and would "put that out as soon as we can."
According to police spokesperson Don Aaron, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department started receiving calls about a shooter at the school at 10:13 a.m. Arriving officers reported hearing gunfire coming from the second floor of the building.
The attacker was shot by two members of a five-person police team in a foyer, and by 10:27 a.m., she had been declared dead.
The police department's response, according to Aaron, was prompt.
According to Drake, the suspect, who is 28 years old, attended the institution in the past.
According to the chief, the attacker entered the school by firing through one of the doors.
According to hospital spokesman John Howser, three students who had been shot when they arrived at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt were later declared dead. According to police, the shooter killed three adult employees.
Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, together with staff members Mike Hill, 61, a school custodian, Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher, and Katherine Koonce, 60, who was named as the "head of school" on the Covenant website, were later identified as the victims.
No one else was shot but the deceased, according to Aaron.
President Joe Biden of the United States urged the U.S. Congress to pass stricter gun reform legislation in response to the most recent school shooting in Washington.
At a White House event, Biden addressed the problem and urged Congress to once more enact a ban on assault-style guns, calling it "sick." "To end gun violence, more needs to be done. Our neighborhoods are being torn apart, and this country's spirit is being torn away."
Republican senator from Tennessee Marsha Blackburn stated on Twitter that her office is "ready to assist" people impacted by the shooting.
Rosanne Cash, a singer-songwriter in her own right and the daughter of Johnny Cash, a legendary figure in Nashville country music, reacted by denouncing Blackburn's affiliation with the NRA gun lobby.
"You receive more than $1 million in NRA donations, rank 14th in House for NRA funding, and vote against every sensible gun control policy that comes before you. Save us the wringing of hands "Money tweeted.
Tennessee eliminated its permit requirement for carrying a concealed handgun in 2021. As long as the person is legally able to purchase the weapon, they are now able to carry a firearm, either openly or concealed, at all times.
In Tennessee, anyone who has been convicted of a violent or drug-related felony conviction is prohibited from possessing a weapon.
Parents of students were instructed to congregate at the nearby Woodmont Baptist Church to pick up their kids. Parents slowly left the building carrying their children behind them. One woman was brought out of the church alone to a waiting squad car by police officers who claimed they were going to Vanderbilt; she was obviously upset as they did so.
According to the school's website, the 2001-founded Covenant School is a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church and serves roughly 200 kids in Nashville's Green Hills district. According to WTVF-TV, the school, which enrolls children in preschool through sixth grade, held an active shooter training event in 2022.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper posted on social media that his community has "joined the dreadful, long list of places to experience a school shooting" and expressed compassion for the victims.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, a website created by researcher David Riedman, there have been 89 school shootings in the United States so far in 2023. A school shooting is defined as any incident in which a gun is discharged on school property. The record, which dates back to 1970, shows that there were 303 such events last year, which is the most of any year.
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