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Three children and three adults killed by female shooter at Nashville elementary school Three children and three adults killed by female shooter at Nashville elementary school
(about 1 hour later)
Police say they shot and killed attacker, who they said was a 28-year-old woman with two assault-style rifles and a pistol Police say they shot and killed a 28-year-old female attacker, who ‘initial findings’ show was a former student at the school
Three children and three adults were killed by a female shooter who carried two assault-style rifles and a pistol into an elementary school in Nashville on Monday, police said.Three children and three adults were killed by a female shooter who carried two assault-style rifles and a pistol into an elementary school in Nashville on Monday, police said.
Police officers shot and killed the attacker at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian church in the Tennessee capital. Officers shot and killed the attacker at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian church in the Tennessee state capital. The Nashville police chief said “initial findings” were that the woman was a former student at the school.
Authorities did not immediately identify the shooter or the victims. Lamenting the “heartbreaking” attack, Joe Biden reiterated his call for Congress to pass meaningful gun control reform including an assault weapons ban.
Don Aaron, a spokesperson for Nashville police, told reporters: “We know at this point that this shooter is a female. She appears to be in her teens, although her identification has not been confirmed at this juncture.” “We have to do more to stop gun violence ripping our communities apart,” the president said at the White House. “It’s ripping the soul from this nation.”
Police later said the shooter was a 28-year-old woman, adding that it was not known if she was connected to the school. Authorities did not immediately name the shooter or the victims. Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, the Nashville police chief, John Drake, said the victims had been identified and their families told.
Aaron said: “We know that she was armed with at least two assault-type rifles and a handgun. We are [making efforts] now to identify her. Drake also said the 28-year-old suspect had been identified and was from Nashville. Asked if the woman was wearing body armour, he declined to say for certain.
“She entered the school through a side entrance and traversed her way from the first floor to the second floor, firing multiple shots. Don Aaron, a police spokesperson, told reporters the first call about the shooting came at 9.30am. The shooter, who Aaron first said “appeared to be in her teens … entered the school through a side entrance and traversed her way from the first floor to the second floor, firing multiple shots”.
“We now know there are three students who were fatally wounded, as well as three adults inside the school. We are working to identify those victims. Including the shooter, a total of seven persons were killed as a result of this incident.” Aaron said the shooting happened in a “lobby-type area” and “not in a classroom per se”. The shooter was dead by 10.27am, he said, after being engaged by two of five officers. An officer was wounded from cut glass, Aaron said. No other injuries were reported.
The shooter was dead by 10.27am, Aaron said. The first call about the shooting came at 9.30am. Drake was asked if the side entrance to the school had been locked.
Aaron said an officer was wounded from cut glass, but he knew of no other injuries. He said: “There was a door that was entered. All doors were locked to our understanding. How exactly she got in at this point is still under investigation. There was a vehicle that was nearby that gave us clues as to who she was.”
He said: “The shooter was engaged by two of our police officers on a five-member team, and … there are no other gunshot victims, non-lethal, that I’m aware of the present.” Drake said the school did have an active shooter protocol. He said some children “evacuated to a wood line” behind the school, while some went to a fire hall.
Aaron said there were no police personnel assigned to the private school, which is run by the church. He said police were viewing school video footage, adding that the shooting happened in a “lobby-type area” on the second floor of the school and “not in a classroom per se”. Aaron said there were no police personnel assigned to the school, which is run by the church. Police were viewing school video footage, he said.
The shooting was just the latest in a string of such horrific violence. Less than a year ago, in Uvalde, Texas, 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school. More recently, a six-year-old shot his teacher in Virginia, and last week a high-school student in Denver, Colorado shot two administrators who were conducting a daily search of him because of behavioral issues. The shooting was just the latest in a string of such horrific events. Less than a year ago, in Uvalde, Texas, 19 children and two teachers were killed at an elementary school. More recently, a six-year-old shot his teacher in Virginia, and last week a high-school student in Denver, Colorado shot two administrators who were conducting a daily search of him because of behavioral issues.
According to the K-12 School Shooting Database resource, there have been at least 89 instances of gun violence at kindergarten through 12th grade schools or during school activities in the US this year.According to the K-12 School Shooting Database resource, there have been at least 89 instances of gun violence at kindergarten through 12th grade schools or during school activities in the US this year.
The six dead made the Nashville shooting the 128th mass shooting in any setting in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one where at least four people are wounded or killed, not counting the attacker. The six dead made the Nashville shooting the 128th mass shooting in the US this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as one where at least four people are wounded or killed, not counting the attacker.
The Covenant School in Nashville has about 209 students and 42 staff members, from pre-school through sixth grade, Aaron, the police spokesman, said. The Covenant School has about 209 students and 42 staff members, from pre-school through sixth grade, Aaron said. 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.
After the shooting, students were seen walking, holding hands and surrounded by police cars, to the nearby Woodmont Baptist church, where they were reunited with parents. A woman whose mother teaches at the school told reporters they texted while the attack was in progress.
A woman whose mother teaches at the school told news networks they texted while the attack was in progress. Avery Myrick said: “I said, just like, what was going on? She said she was hiding in the closet and that they were shooting all over, and that they were potentially trying to get into a room. It was really scary, really sad. I’m just praying for all the families out there.”
Avery Myrick said her father told her there was “a shooter at the school, and then I texted [my mother], and I said, just like, what was going on?” Hannah McDonald, a reporter for News Channel 5, told viewers her mother-in-law worked at the school and was coming back from a break at the time of the shooting.
“She said she was hiding in the closet and that they were shooting all over, and that they were potentially trying to get into a room,” Myrick added. “It was really scary, really sad. I’m just praying for all the families out there.” “My mother-in-law is the front-desk angel … and she was at the school this morning,” McDonald said.
Hannah McDonald, a reporter for News Channel 5 in Nashville, told viewers her mother-in-law was working at the school and was coming back from a break at the time of the shooting.
“My mother-in-law is the front-desk angel … and she was at the school this morning,” McDonald said. “However, Diana was able to come out of this safe. She actually stepped away to take a break.
“The school is kind of situated sideways, if you will. So the front door is actually on the side of the building. And that’s where she sits, and so you walk down a long exterior pathway to the front door, and then you see her smiling face in the morning there.“The school is kind of situated sideways, if you will. So the front door is actually on the side of the building. And that’s where she sits, and so you walk down a long exterior pathway to the front door, and then you see her smiling face in the morning there.
“And she and I have not been able to talk, but my husband and I have talked and I’ve heard that she is safe. “She was outside the school and she heard gunshots.”
“She was outside the school and she heard gunshots. She had just gotten back from her break. She starts her day early. This is an elementary school. People are there at 7am to greet these children. So she had stepped away already when this happened and she got back and she heard gunshots.” Drake said: “We have three kids that were tragically [killed]. It could have been far, far worse.”
In Washington, the first lady, Jill Biden, spoke about the shooting during a public appearance. David Rausch, director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said authorities sent “heartfelt prayers to the families … of these victims”.
“We just learned about another shooting in Tennessee, a school shooting,” she said. “I am truly without words. Our children deserve better. We stand with Nashville in prayer.” He added: “Now I know there’ll be people who want to criticise us for prayers. That’s the way we do that in the south. We believe in prayer and we believe in the power of prayer. So our prayers go out to these families.”
At the White House, the press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said Joe Biden had been briefed. She also repeated the president’s call for Congress to pass more substantial gun control reform. At the White House, the press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, repeated Biden’s call for meaningful reform.
Gun control legislation that Congress passed and Biden signed last year only expanded background checks for the youngest gun buyers while funding mental health and violence intervention programs. Legislation passed last year only expanded background checks for the youngest gun buyers while funding mental health and violence intervention programs.
“He wants Congress to act because enough is enough,” Jean-Pierre said. “How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes in our background check system or to require safe storage. Biden, Jean-Pierre said, “wants Congress to act because enough is enough. How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban, to close loopholes in our background check system or to require safe storage. We need to do something.”
“We need to do something.” In his own appearance at the White House, Biden called the shooting “heartbreaking’ and “a family’s worst nightmare”.
“I want to commend the police, who responded credibly, swiftly, within minutes,” Biden said. “We’re monitoring the situation closely. We have to do more to stop gun violence.”
Ramon Antonio Vargas and the Associated Press contributed reportingRamon Antonio Vargas and the Associated Press contributed reporting