Even before the Covenant School shooting, Drake had concerns about gun violence. Nashville police released more 911 calls on Thursday evening from inside of The Covenant School during Monday's shooting. Church staff passed out water, directed parents to the bathrooms and took out the trash. Dickson County Sheriff Tim Eads, who attended the meeting in which Rausch spoke about the case, said Rausch found "no clear motive" in the writings that have been analyzed. Nashville police said five officers responded to a 911 call that arrived at 10:13 a.m., and the shooterfired on arriving police vehicles from a second-story window. We have to do more to protect our schools so they aren't turned into prisons. Last year saw 303 such incidents, the highest of any year in the database, which goes back to 1970. A federal law enforcement source verified to NBC News that no direct motive has been established in the investigation and suggested that the driving force of the attack was similar to previous school shootings in which the assailant was drawn to other mass killers. 0:00. NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The shooter who killed six people, including three children, at a Nashville elementary school Monday had detailed maps of the facility, considered another target and left. They immediately went to the gunfire.". One of Hale's former instructors at the Nossi College of Art & Design, Maria Colomy, said Sims' death took a great emotional toll on her former student. While police are still working to determine a motive for the attack, they said in a news release that writings left behind by Hale make clear that it was calculated and planned. Hale targeted the school and Covenant Presbyterian Church, to which the school is attached, police said, but its believed the victims were fired upon at random. Two of the five officers on the floor opened fire on the shooter and killed Haleby 10:27 a.m., Aaronsaid. A group prays with a child outside the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church. Editor's note: For the latest news on the Nashville school shooting, follow our coverage from Tuesday, March 28 here. Erik Ortiz is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital focusing on racial injustice and social inequality. 6 Killed in Nashville School Shooting, Including 3 Children Authorities initially believed the shooter might hold resentment toward her former school but they have not provided any details to publicly back up that theory. The video ends with the confrontation in an upstairs lobby area, when several shots were fired at the attacker, who fell amid shouts of "Stop moving," "Suspect down," and, "Get your hand away from the gun.". I was hoping this day would never, ever come here in the city, Drake said, but we would never wait to make entry and go in and stop a threat, especially when it deals with our children.. Police identified the victims of the shooting on Monday afternoon as: The Covenant School shooting:Who are the victims? More than 3,000 donations had been made as of 6 p.m. Tuesday. Possessing a handgun is outlawed in Tennessee for anybody who has been convicted of a felony offense involving violence or drugs. We love the Scruggs family and mourn with them over their precious daughter Hallie," Mark Davis, senior pastor at Park Cities Presbyterian Church, said in a statement. A former student killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville on Monday, armed with two assault-style weapons and a handgun after elaborately planning the massacre by drawing a detailed map and conducting surveillance of the building, police said. Most came from the body camera of officer Rex Engelbert. Empowering Minds. Deon J. Hampton is a national reporter for NBC News. Two officers from a five-member team shot the assailant in a lobby area, and the suspect was pronounced dead by 10:27 a.m. [1/12]A child weeps while on the bus leaving The Covenant School, following a mass shooting at the school in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. March 27, 2023. The suspected shooter, identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was fatally shot by officers who responded to the scene at The Covenant School. The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, along with staffers Mike Hill, 61, a school custodian, Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher, and Katherine Koonce, 60, listed on the Covenant website as "head of school.". It was really scary, really sad.. The shooting happened in a lobby-type area and not in a classroom per se, Aaron said. On Monday night, Tennessee's first lady Maria Lee was set to have dinner with one of her best friends, Cindy Peak, an old colleague from her teacher days who planned to spend the day as a substitute teacher at The Covenant School. Its hard, because if I had been there, maybe I could have been shot.. By that time, unbeknownst to Patton, Hale had shattered glass doors and entered the Covenant School. Covenant shooting: The bonds we share will move Nashville forward A couple hundred people attended the vigil. Nashville shooting latest updates: Students flood Capitol for protest Victims of The Covenant School shooting mourned at vigil in Nashville. Drake later said one of the children was 8 and about to turn 9 but did not specify who. Drake confirmed that law enforcement were previously unaware of Hale or about his treatment. Evelyns sister cried as she said, I dont want to be an only child.. Surveillance video shows him carrying and aiming an assault rifle as he walks hallways. "This is the ultimate crime, when schoolchildren and caregivers are the victims of senseless gun violence," Glenn Funk, Davidson County District Attorney General, said in a newsconference. Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology. Investigators with the police department and the FBIs Behavioral Analysis Unit continue to review writings left behind by Hale, which police said Monday contain documentation of Hales planning. She'd wear a ball cap sometimes," Hardcastle said. A candlelight vigil will be held Wednesday night at Public Square Park to honor the victims of Monday's shooting. It's ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation.". Is the clue in her writings and ramblings how to stop it? Drake said the officers were trying to decompress the day after the shooting. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers. The shooter was . The Covenant School students who died Monday were all 9 years old, andthe staff members were in their 60s. "It's ripping our communities apart ripping at the very soul of our nation. We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church," the school said in a statement Monday night. "I have literally mind-blowing moments like, 'What in the world? "You vote against every common sense gun control bill that comes across your desk, you've taken over $1 million from the NRA and you rank 14th in all Congress for NRA contributions. On the day of the March 27 shooting, Police Chief John Drake told NBC News that Hale may have targeted Covenant because theres some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school. He noted that the investigation was still in its early stages. Last week, a 17-year-old student shot and wounded two faculty members at a high school in Denver. Ken Dilanian is the justice and intelligence correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington. The threat was overby 10:27 a.m., police said. Police released a six minute compilation video of officers Rex Englebert and Michael Collazo body camera footage. You should never speculate about a motive until you have all of the information despite the public wanting the answer right away, said Tyrone Powers, a former FBI special agent and founder of The Powers Consulting Group, a public safety consulting firm based in Baltimore. Theybelieved Hale had sold the only gun he had. "Mike was the beloved father of eight children. 2023 Cable News Network. My heart is broken I do not understand why someone would shoot up a school with precious babies inside. Rachel Dibble, who was at the church as families found their children, described the scene as everyone being in complete shock. I think thats a mischaracterization, personally, Rausch said in another interview with Pray In Jesus Name News. She later graduated from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, the station added. "Arent you tired of this," she said, taking over the microphones after a news conference. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department began receiving calls at 10:13 a.m. of a shooter at the school, and arriving officers reported hearing gunfire coming from the building's second floor, police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters. He wrote on Twitter:"In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting. Evil people do evil things. There's some unity in today's strange emotions. Drake said investigators believed the shooting stemmed from some resentment the suspect harbored for having to go to that school as a younger person. David Rausch, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, told attendees at a Tennessee Sheriffs Association meeting last week that the handwritten journals were ramblings, and the entries made no mention of specific political, religious or social issues, reported the CBS affiliate WTVF in Nashville. You can only explain what you know. Drake said Hale was a former student at the school. Policing experts said its essential that officials are mindful of what they tell the public, especially since an investigation is so fluid. Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs, all 9 years old, were killed in the massacre, as well as school custodian Mike Hill, 61, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and Katherine Koonce, 60, who was head of the school. We will also recognize that there is so much good in this world and in each other.". Nashville school shooter wrote manifesto and drew maps, per police. Nine states have banned them. "Suspect down, suspect down," Collazo calls over the radio. Police also said Hale acted alone. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much They heard shots coming from the second level; they immediately went to the gunfire. Police quickly worked through the first floor clearing classrooms and encouraging each other to move faster. "The young people of Tennessee are making it very clear they are sick of waiting," the . Hale wore a black vest over a white T-shirt, camouflage pants and a backwards red baseball cap in a video that showed only the shooter in the frame. On March 27, 2023, a mass school shooting occurred at The Covenant School, a Presbyterian Church in America parochial elementary school in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee.Aiden Hale, a transgender man and former student of the school, killed three nineyearold children and three adults before being shot and killed by two Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD . She earned a master's in education from Georgia State University in Atlanta and a doctorate from Trevecca NazareneUniversity, a Christian school in Nashville. A shooter who killed three 9-year-old students and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville Monday had maps of the school, left behind writings and scouted a second. '", Contributing: Cassandra Stephenson,Nashville Tennessean. Nashville school shooting: 6 killed including 3 students - Fox News The 28-year-old who killed three children and three adults at a Christian school in Nashville last week fired 152 rounds, Nashville police said Monday, adding that while they have yet to determine a motive, the shooter planned the attack over a period of months and studied other mass murderers. Hale was an illustrator and graphic designer who used he and him pronouns, according to a police spokesperson. But Peak never arrived home on Monday. Two officers opened fire a moment captured in bodycam footage later released by police and killed Hale at 10:27 a.m., 14 minutes after the shooter entered, according to Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron. Following extensive interviews with the parents of Audrey Hale, Metro Police were able to determine that Hale was under doctor care for an emotional disorder, and Hale's parents believed Hale did not have any firearms at the time of the shooting, Drake said Tuesday. Nashville school shooting: Community comes together to mourn Who are the Nashville officers who killed the Covenant School shooting suspect? Drake spoke to President Joe Biden, who was planning to reach out to the responding officers this week. For some of us, these are our friends., The senior pastor lost a daughter today, he said. The attacker, identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, was a former student at The Covenant School who broke in Monday morning by shooting the glass from a door. QUICK REACTION: 14-minute timeline: From the Nashville school shooter's break-in to how police responded. Brazilian police and environmental protection agents were ambushed by illegal gold miners on the Yanomami Indigenous reservation in the Amazon on Monday and four miners were shot dead in the exchange of gunfire, a government statement said. ", "We dont know all of the details of how or why this happened, and we may never fully know," Battle said. Officials have not said when they might release the contents of several journals recovered in Hales family home after the attack, in which six people, including three young children, were gunned down. "The police department response was swift," Aaron said. I was really impressed that with all that was going on, someone took control and said Lets go, lets go., Drake said at Tuesday's briefing. Drake said the attacker did not appear to be targeting anyone specifically at the school, where Halehad been a student. Adrienne Battle, the director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, opened a Tuesday night school board meeting by sharing a few thoughts about the shooting. No, definitely not. ", TennesseeSen. Marsha Blackburn said she was "heartbroken to hear about the shooting." More than two weeks after a mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school, investigators have not yet identified a clear motive in the attackers journal writings, and authorities have not provided any details publicly to back up their early suggestion that the shooter may have felt resentment toward the school. Thats the way we do that in the south. The sixth victim was not taken to the hospital, police spokesman Don Aaron said. As Englebert moved to the second floor, eight gunshots can be heard down the hallway. Hale pulls into the parking lot at the school, approaches a door shooting out the glass and then patrols the halls with gun raised. As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos. Hannah McDonald, a reporter for News Channel 5, told viewers her mother-in-law worked at the school but was on a break when the shooting happened. Hale was a former student at The Covenant School, Nashville officials respond to The Covenant School shooting, President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting, 'How many more classrooms must become crime scenes? In the hours after the shooting, Drake said of the shooter that officials feel that she identifies as trans, but were still in the initial investigation into all of that and if it actually played a role into this incident.. "The police department response was swift," police spokesman Don Aaronsaid. MNPD said Audrey Hale shot at officers from a second-story window when they arrived at the school Monday morning. Three other verified funds are also available for support relief on GoFundMe's website. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Fallout from the Covenant shooting was swift and dovetailed into the political crossfires resulting in the expulsion of two state lawmakers who protested gun violence inside the state Capitol before they were reinstated days later. Hardcastle, a middle school art teacher, last ran into Hale a month ago in downtown Nashville at a show by their mutual friend and radio personality Averianna Patton. "We've got one down," he says before turning right down the hallway. "It is not natural that we are forced into these conversations," Battle said. How do we stop the next one? "Our community is heartbroken. 'Above and beyond':Nashville police moved fast, saved lives in Covenant shooting, experts say. What we know about the Nashville school shooting About the four-minute mark, the video cuts to Collazo's body camera. We have to do more to stop gun violence ripping our communities apart, the president said at the White House. John Oliver Argues for Gun Control After Nashville School Shooting ', First lady Jill Biden also addressed the shooting, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. ", Adrienne Battle, director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, said she was "grieving today over the tragic murder of children and school staff right here in our community," calling the killings an "unimaginable loss of life. The Nashville school shooter fell into an emotional spiral after the recent death of a close friend, ex-classmate says Friends of Audrey Hale, 28, still can't grasp how the "loving" teenager they. Nashville shooting latest news: 911 caller says Covenant staff were armed We cant ask her anymore, and we cant get in her mind, Giacalone said. Woman who survived Highland Park shooting makes plea in Nashville, First lady Jill Biden responds to Nashville mass shooting, wounded two faculty members at a high school in Denver, Revealing trends, details and anguish of every US event since 2006, the Fourth of July parade in Highland Park, shared through tears a story of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Biden repeats his call for meaningful gun control reform, the K-12 School Shooting Database resource, Three children and three adults killed in attack, Police killed attacker, 28, a former student. Read more here. The shooter, identified by police as former student Audrey. Hillsboro High School junior Alayna Mitchell was in class on Monday when Monday's shooting took place at Covenant School. The Covenant School is a private school founded in 2001 that serves students inpre-kindergarten through sixth grade, according to its website. Three children and three adults were killed in a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday. Officers responded "swiftly," entered the first floor and began clearing the area, he said. The 28-year-old, who attacked The Covenant School on Monday,was devastated by the death in August of Sydney Shere Sims in a traffic accident, former classmate Samira Hardcastle said. Officers also found a sawed-off shotgun and a second shotgun at the home. A former middle school basketball teammate says she receiveda message from Hale on Instagram at 9:57 a.m. Monday less than 20 minutes before the first 911 calls from the school. My mother-in-law is the front-desk angel, McDonald said. According to Drake, the parents of Audrey Hale the 28-year-old transgender man police have identified as the shooter told officers they didn't think their grown child should own weapons. Drake said the school had an active shooter protocol. Audrey Hale legally bought seven weapons from five different gun stores, three of which were used yesterday during Monday's shooting, Metro police chief John Drake said during a Tuesday press briefing. I woke up this morning with a very familiar feeling, and I recognize that today many Tennesseans are feeling the exact same way the emptiness, the lack of understanding, the desperate desire for answers and the desperate need for hope. Nashville shooting timeline: How the massacre unfolded at - ABC News There's a connection with that family.". Police identified the victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs, all of them age 9, and Mike Hill, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Cynthia Peak, 61. You cant explain what you dont know.. Hale fired more than 150 rounds during the March 27 shooting, Metro Nashville Police said . "I was really impressed that with all that was going on, the danger, that somebody took control and said, 'Let's go, let's go, let's go,' and went in and just tried to end this situation,''Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said. Metro Nashville police said Monday afternoon Hale fired 152 total rounds, 126 from a rifle and 26 nine millimeter rounds from a pistol they carried in mass shooting. "I'll never understand, it because it's not a logical thing to do. ': mother pleads for action after Nashville school shooting video. Three children and three adult staff members were slain at a Nashville school Monday in one of Tennessee's deadliest school shootings. "Together, we trust in the power of Christ to draw near and give us the comfort and hope we desperately need.. Six killed, including three children, in Tennessee school shooting CRIME Nashville school shooting updates: School employee says staff members carried guns Nick Gray Diana Leyva Craig Shoup Kirsten Fiscus Rachel Wegner Melissa Brown Andy Humbles Josh Keefe. April 12, 2023. And right now, its real.From her office nearby, Kelly Stooksberry could see parents rushing to park their cars on the side of the road before sprinting to locate their children. The Predators released a statement earlier Tuesday, saying, "As Middle Tennessee grieves today, we move forward with heavy hearts in preparation for our game against the Boston Bruins this evening. The Covenant School, founded in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville with about 200 students, according to the school's website. The Tennessean said Koonce was the school's headmaster. Players from the Nashville Predators and Boston Bruins are wearing a Covenant School emblem on their helmets during Tuesday's game in Boston in support of those at the school affected by the shooting. Just before the shooting at The Covenant School, Patton got a message from Hale, who warned that something bad was about to happen. Hale is visible in the video but is partially obscured by a blurred box. I was literally moved to tears to see this and the kids as they were being ushered out of the building, Drake said. At one point, teachers were asked to raise their hands, and others placed their hands on them and prayed over them. A couple prays at the memorial for the victims of the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville. But Eads said that, if it were up to him, he would make the writings public. "We have to do more to stop gun violence," Biden said. Body camera footage released Tuesday shows armed Nashville officers swiftly moving from one room to another in the school before confronting Hale. Follow along in Wednesday's new blog for live updates as we learn more. The school is on the campus of Covenant Presbyterian Church in the city's Green Hills neighborhood, about 9 miles southeast of downtown Nashville. NASHVILLE - Hundreds gathered Wednesday night for the citywide . She was so loving to everyone, and I think she might have just wanted to fit in, Hardcastle said. The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department on Monday night released images of three weapons, as well as footage of the suspect driving and parking at the building, allegedly shooting through the door and walking around inside the facility while holding a gun. On a given day, slightly over200students and 42 staff members are at the school, Aaron said. President Joe Biden referred to the shooting as a "sick'' act and reiterated his call for Congress to ban assault weapons. What spurred Hale to target The Covenant School about two decades after attending there has led to rampant speculation and placed scrutiny on what police initially said was their focus on the investigation. IE 11 is not supported. Addressing an early evening news conference, Drake said police were working on a theory about what may have precipitated the shooting and would "put that out as soon as we can." Police believed two of the guns were obtained legally, Drake said. More on the Nashville school shooting - NBC News But Rosanne Cash, daughter of the late Nashville country music star Johnny Cash and a singer-songwriter in her own right, responded by criticizing Blackburn's ties to the National Rifle Association (NRA) gun lobby. After the shooting, children were seen walking, holding hands and surrounded by police cars, to the nearby Woodmont Baptist church, to be reunited with parents. I was hoping this day would never, ever come here in the city, Drake said Monday, but we would never wait to make entry and go in and stop a threat, especially when it deals with our children..