Deadly Shooting at Covenant School in Nashville Leaves Six Dead, Including Three Children and Three Adult Staff Members
On Monday, March 28th, a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, left six people dead, including three children and three adult staff members.[0] The suspected shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was fatally shot by responding police officers.[1] The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9; Mike Hill, 61; William Kinney, 9; Katherine Koonce, 60; Cynthia Peak, 61; and Hallie Scruggs, 9.[2]
Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the senior pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church.[3] The church released a statement expressing their condolences and faith in Christ to provide comfort and hope during this difficult time. The church community is heartbroken by the loss of Hallie and the other victims.
The shooting occurred around 10:11 a.m. when Hale shattered the glass doors of the Covenant School and entered the building armed with two AR-style rifles and a handgun.[4] She proceeded to shoot and kill three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members before being fatally shot by responding police officers at around 10:25 a.m.[5]
The Covenant School, a private Christian school with approximately 200 students from preschool to sixth grade, released a statement expressing their grief and shock over the tragedy. The school is focused on supporting their students, families, faculty, and staff during the healing process.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department released body camera footage from the officers who responded to the shooting.[6] The video shows Officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo entering the Covenant School and taking down the shooter.[6] Hale also fired at the officers from a second-story window before being killed.[7]
The shooting at the Covenant School is the deadliest school shooting in Tennessee since 2008 and the deadliest in the United States in nearly a year.[4] This tragedy marks the 19th shooting at a school or university in 2023 that has left at least one person wounded, according to a CNN count.[8]
The victims of the Covenant School shooting are being mourned by their families, friends, and communities. They are remembered as beloved members of the school and church, and their loss is deeply felt. As the investigation continues, the Nashville community is standing together to support one another and heal from this devastating event.
0. “Nashville School Shooting: What We Know About the Victims” PEOPLE, 28 Mar. 2023, https://people.com/crime/nashville-covenant-school-shooting-remembering-victims/
1. “BODYCAM VIDEO: Moment Nashville Police encounter elementary school mass shooter” WZTV, 28 Mar. 2023, https://fox17.com/news/local/nashville-tennessee-middle-tennessee-gun-violence-mass-shooting-body-cam-video-metro-police-release-video-of-moments-officers-encountered-mass-shooter-davidson-county-local-news
2. “Nashville school shooting: What to know about the 6 victims” ABC News, 27 Mar. 2023, https://abcnews.go.com/US/nashville-school-shooting-victims/story?id=98161083
3. “Victims of the Covenant School massacre included a 9-year-old who loved to perform and a school leader dedicated to her students” NBC News, 28 Mar. 2023, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/victims-covenant-school-massacre-included-9-year-old-loved-perform-sch-rcna76880
4. “Nashville shooter sent Instagram DMs from Covenant School parking lot” Tennessean, 28 Mar. 2023, https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2023/03/28/nashville-shooter-audrey-hale-instagram-dms-covenant-school/70055736007
5. “Nashville shooter sent chilling messages to friend from Covenant School parking lot: ‘You'll probably hear about me'” USA TODAY, 29 Mar. 2023, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/03/28/nashville-shooter-audrey-hale-instagram-dms-covenant-school/11558778002/
6. “Bodycam video shows moments police killed active shooter at Nashville school” WKRN News 2, 28 Mar. 2023, https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/covenant-school-mass-shooting/nashville-school-shooting-bodycam-video/
7. “What we know about the deadly shooting at a Nashville elementary school” NPR, 28 Mar. 2023, https://www.npr.org/2023/03/28/1166482479/nashville-school-shooting-covenant-what-we-know
8. “Young children, the head of their school and its custodian. These are the victims of the Nashville school shooting” CNN, 29 Mar. 2023, https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/28/us/victims-covenant-school-shooting-nashville/index.html
