What We Know About the Nashville School Shooting

Three college students and three adults have been fatally shot by a closely armed attacker on Monday morning at a non-public Christian elementary college in Nashville, based on town’s Police Division. The shooter, recognized as Audrey E. Hale, was a 28-year-old former scholar who lived within the space, officers mentioned.

The Nashville police chief, John Drake, mentioned on Monday that it was too early to debate a attainable motive for the capturing, although he confirmed that the assault was focused. The authorities have been reviewing writings and had made contact with the shooter’s father, Chief Drake mentioned.

The varsity, known as the Covenant Faculty, is within the rich enclave of Inexperienced Hills, a number of miles south of downtown Nashville, and has about 200 college students in preschool via sixth grade. The assault on Monday was the thirteenth college capturing in the US this 12 months that resulted in harm or loss of life, based on Training Week.

Right here’s what we all know to this point:

What occurred?

The police obtained a report of the capturing at 10:13 a.m. on Monday and heard gunshots on the second ground once they arrived on the college, mentioned Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Nashville Police Division.

The assailant had entered the constructing via a aspect door, armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun, and went from the primary ground to the second ground firing “a number of pictures,” Mr. Aaron mentioned. Officers went to the second ground, noticed the assailant capturing, and two officers opened hearth, killing the shooter at 10:27 a.m., Mr. Aaron mentioned.

Surveillance video launched by the police on Monday confirmed the shooter drive as much as the college in what the police described as a Honda Match. Within the clip, two units of glass doorways shatter from bullets earlier than the shooter geese into the constructing via the damaged glass. Carrying camouflage pants, a black vest and a backward pink baseball cap, the shooter walks via rooms and hallways with a weapon drawn.

Schoolchildren and members of the college’s workers have been escorted out of the constructing after the capturing, mentioned Kendra Loney, a spokeswoman for the Nashville Hearth Division. A complete of 108 folks, she added, have been transported to the close by Woodmont Baptist Church, the place mother and father have been reunited with their kids.

Who have been the victims?

The police identified the six victims as:

— Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9

— William Kinney, 9

— Hallie Scruggs, 9, daughter of the church pastor, Chad Scruggs

— Mike Hill, 61, a college custodian

— Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute trainer

— Katherine Koonce, 60, the pinnacle of faculty, based on the college web site

What do we all know concerning the shooter?

The authorities recognized the shooter as Audrey E. Hale. The police mentioned they’d discovered writings and detailed maps of the college and its safety protocols.

The assailant was “ready for a confrontation with legislation enforcement” and “ready to do extra hurt” earlier than being killed, Chief Drake mentioned. A minimum of two of the weapons used within the capturing appeared to have been bought legally within the Nashville space, he mentioned.

Within the aftermath of the capturing, there was confusion concerning the shooter’s gender identification. Chief Drake mentioned the shooter recognized as transgender, and officers used “she” and “her” to discuss with the attacker. However based on a social media put up and a LinkedIn profile, the shooter appeared to determine as male in current months.

Investigators had made contact with the shooter’s father and have been finishing up an investigation on the dwelling, Chief Drake mentioned. As of Monday night, the motive was unknown.

And the college?

The Covenant Faculty is a non-public college that was based in 2001 as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church. The church began the college partly as a result of mother and father on the church have been discovering it tough to enroll their kids in different personal faculties within the space, based on Jim Bachmann, a former pastor on the church.

The varsity is “deliberately small,” based on its web site, with 200 college students in preschool via sixth grade, and a student-to-teacher ratio of 8-to-1. Tuition prices about $16,000 a 12 months.

Covenant Presbyterian is a big church affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America, a theologically conservative denomination. The denomination’s report on gender and sexuality, ready in 2020, refers to “the sinfulness of gay and transgender need in addition to conduct.”

Chad Scruggs is the present pastor of Covenant Presbyterian. His 9-year-old daughter, Hallie Scruggs, was killed within the capturing.