The Moment of an Active Shooter at a Christian School in Nashville, Tennessee (TN): Is It Really That Thing?

Metro Nashville Police released surveillance video showing the moment the shooter arrived at the school, shot through glass doors and climbed through to get inside. The suspect is shown in the video pointing an assault style weapon through the hallways.

Police rushed to the scene after receiving a call of an active shooter at Covenant school. The first five responding officers heard gunfire coming from the second floor.

Hale, who attended the Christian school years ago, left writings that pertain to the shooting and had scouted a second possible attack location in Nashville, “but because of a threat assessment by the suspect – there’s too much security – they decided not to,” police chief said.

The shooter gained entry to the school by shooting through a door, then took over the building in a attack that lasted about 14 minutes.

“I was literally moved to tears to see this and the kids as they were being ushered out of the building,” the police chief said during a Monday news conference.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/28/us/covenant-school-shooting-nashville-tennessee-tuesday/index.html

An active shooter in Nashville killed four people and killed three adults during the 2018 night shooting at a high-traffic-area Waffle House

The students killed were all 9 years old. The people were named Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. Three adults killed in the shooting were identified as 61-year-old Cynthia Peak, 60-year-old Katherine Koonce and 61-year-old Mike Hill, police said.

Shaundelle Brooks, who lost her son Akilah DaSilva during a 2018 mass shooting at a Nashville-area Waffle House, said she was brought back to that painful moment as her other son was placed on lockdown at a nearby school Monday.

The police chief said that the shooter was prepared for confrontation with law enforcement and prepared to do more harm than was actually done.

Three weapons – an AR-style rifle, an AR-style pistol and a handgun – were found and police believe Hale obtained at least two of the weapons legally, Drake said. A search warrant executed at Hale’s home also resulted in the seizure of a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other evidence, according to police.

Police said in the news release that they confronted the shooter who was firing through a window at police cars. Two officers then opened fire, killing the shooter at 10:27 a.m., police spokesperson Don Aaron said.

I was hoping that this day would never happen in the city. Drake said in a news conference on Monday that they will never wait to enter and to stop a threat especially when it deals with our children.

This school had active shooter training and was prepared for it. We don’t like to think that this is ever going to happen to us. Russ Pulley, a member of the Nashville Metropolitan Council, tells CNN that experience has taught him that we need to be prepared in this day and time.

Katherine Koonce was identified as the head of the school on its website, which also says she attended school in Nashville at Vanderbilt University and Trevecca Nazarene University, along with getting her master’s degree from Georgia State University.

Mike Hill was identified in the staff section of the Covenant Presbyterian Church’s website, which is now offline. He was a facilities/kitchen staff. A friend of Mike Hill confirmed his image to CNN. Hill, 61, was a custodian at the school, per police.

“Our community is heartbroken. We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing,” Covenant school said in a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WZTV.

The school was started in 2001 as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, and also teaches preschool through 6th grade.

Pastor John Cooper and the children of Bethe ansatz: A pastor’s evangelist talk at the church where he and his family were killed

Nashville Mayor John Cooper said he is “overwhelmed at the thought of the loss of these families, of the future lost by these children and their families.”

A recent study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in December backs that point, finding that homicide is a leading cause of death for children in the United States and the overall rate has increased an average of 4.3% each year for nearly a decade.

Congress needs to pass an assault weapons ban, because we need to do more to protect our schools, according to Biden. However, a bipartisan solution is extremely unlikely this Congress with a slim Democratic majority in the Senate and a GOP-led House.

NASHVILLE — The sun was still shining brightly when I pulled into the parking lot of Christ Presbyterian Church here on Tuesday. There was a traffic backup outside the church where I was going to pray for the victims of the Covenant School shooting that happened a few miles up the road. Christ Presbyterian is a sister church of Covenant Presbyterian Church, a member of the same evangelical denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, P.C.A. for short.

The church was full. The pews had people in them. People were lined up on the walls. There were streaks of tears on faces. As I walked into the room, Nate Morrow, the head of Christ Presbyterian Academy, spoke to the congregation. He said that prayer was the most powerful thing that could be done.

Empathy and Condolence for the Victim of the 2023 Shooting at Covenant School: A Memoir of Evelyn Peak

The “lockdown” text may have been sent to the parent of a schoolchild in the year 2023. It could come from the school itself, announcing that a dangerous, or at least suspicious, incident is underway at school or nearby. It is more likely to be from your network of friends. Someone will ask, ” does anyone know anything?” They have heard about the incident elsewhere in town and the rumors cascade on social media and texts.

Friends and families of the six people that were killed in a shooting Monday at the Covenant School in Nashville are grieving the loss of their loved ones and remembering their legacy.

Hill was the father of seven children, as well as having 14 grandkids, his family said in a statement obtained by CNN. He loved to cook and spend time with his family, it added.

She wrote that she had watched school shootings happen over the years but never thought of losing a loved one over a person trying to solve a temporary problem. “I am so sorry for the loss of those children,” she added.

Louisiana state Rep. Charles Anthony Owen said he has known Peak his whole life. He said that she was always by your side. Owen told people how his sister, Mae Ann, and Peak would hang out. Peak was the first face he remembered seeing after Mae Ann’s death.

Koonce was the head of the school, according to the website. Her friends and former co-workers, Monica and Jim Lee, remember her as a wonderful person who was full of sass, wit and grace.

Jim Lee said she was a person of grace, but she had this amazing confidence. “She was an educator, but she also had great pastoral and counseling and nurturing skills or she had those CEO skills that could tell you that you need to kind of get in your place,” he added, with a laugh.

“Our hearts are completely broken. The family says it cannot believe it has happened. Evelyn was a light in the world. We appreciate all the love and support but ask for space as we grieve.”

Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas released a statement Monday confirming that their former pastor, Chad Scruggs, lost his daughter Hallie in the shooting.