6 People, Including 3 Children, Are Dead After A Shooting A School In Nashville

Six people, including three children, are dead after a 28-year-old shooter opened fire at a private Christian school in Nashville, police said. 

The shooting occurred at the Covenant School on Burton Hills Boulevard, the Nashville Fire Department confirmed on Monday. The school is for students from preschool through sixth grade.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said the suspect was a Nashville resident and was at some point a student at the school. Police have identified the shooter as Audrey Hale, who they initially said was a woman but later clarified was transgender. According to a LinkedIn profile, Hale used he/him pronouns.

A spokesperson for Vanderbilt University Medical Center confirmed in a statement to BuzzFeed News that three children with gunshot wounds were sent to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt. All three were students at the school and were pronounced dead after arrival. The other victims include three adult staff members.

Metro Nashville Police Department identified the children who were killed in the shooting as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9-year-olds. The staff members killed were identified as Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher; Mike Hill, 61, a custodian; and Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the Covenant School.

Speaking at a press brief following the shooting, Don Aaron, a spokesperson for the Metro Nashville police, told reporters that the suspected shooter entered through the school’s side entrance around 10:15 a.m. with at least two assault-style rifles and a handgun. On Monday evening, the police said Hale entered the building after shooting out the glass of a door to the church.

Police called the shooting a targeted attack, adding that Hale had bought the firearms legally. Officers found a map of the school along with a “manifesto,” police said.

“We’ve also determined that there were maps drawn of the school in detail, of surveillance, entry points, et cetera,” Drake said.

He was killed by 10:27 a.m. after being “engaged” by Metro Nashville police.