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HORRIFIC: 3 Students, 3 Adults, And Female Shooter Dead After School Shooting At Christian PreK-6 School (UPDATED)

On Monday morning, a female shooter entered Covenant Presbyterian School in Nashville and killed 3 students and 3 adults. Covenant is a Pre-K through Sixth Grade school.

Metro-Nashville police report that they engaged with the shooter on the second floor. She was shot dead by police just minutes after police arrived on the scene. Reports indicate that the shooter was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.

Initial reports suggested that the shooter was a teenager, but she had not been identified.

Police say the shooter – who has not yet been named – killed three kids and three adults before being shot dead by police. Her identity has not yet been confirmed, but police say they believe she was a teenager.
‘We do not know who she is. She does appear to be in her teens,’ Don Aarons, the spokesman for Nashville Metropolitan Police said at a press conference on Monday afternoon.
Shortly before 10.13am, the shooter entered the school through a side door and began opening fire on the second floor.
Police arrived at the scene and heard the gunshots coming from the 2nd floor. By 10,.27am, she had been shot dead. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.
Source: Daily Mail

The Nashville NBC affiliate, WSMV 4, reported that the shooter was a “28-year-old Nashville woman” and not a teen at all. She had entered the school through a side entrance with two assault-style rifles and a handgun police said.

Students are still being reunited with their parents at this time.

The Covenant is located at 33 Burton Hills Boulevard, and Hillsboro Pike is closed from Harding Place to Hobbs Road for police at the scene.
A student reunification area has been set up by the Nashville Fire Department at Woodmont Baptist Church, at 2100 Woodmont Boulevard. NFD recommends that parents use this area to meet their students from the school.
Source: WSMV 4

Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee tweeted that he is being updated on the situation and called for prayer for the school and the community in Nashville.

An anti-gun activist hijacked the presser and made a whole lot of assumptions about how the shooter obtained these weapons.

This is a developing story.

***UPDATE***
The victims of the shooting have been identified as:

Evelyn Dieckhaus, age 9
Hallie Scruggs, age 9
William Kinney, age 9
Mike Hill, 61, a custodian
Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher
Katherine Koonce, 60, head of the school

The shooter has also been identified. Audrey Hale, 28, was a former student of Covenant and identifies as transgender. Although the reports are identifying Hale as a “transgender woman”, it appears that she was actually a woman who identified as a man and may have gone by the name “Aiden.”

Nashville police chief John Drake said that the investigation is still ongoing, but investigators have found writings related to the day of the shooting and a detailed manifesto mapping out the shooting at Covenant. Drake added that Hale’s transgender identity likely played a role in the shooting and that it was a targeted attack.

[Drake] added that Hale was “prepared to do more harm than was actually done.”
Drake said police are looking into whether Hale’s identity as a trans person played a role in the deadly shooting, with investigators coming up with theories based on their findings.Police said they are in contact with the suspect’s father and will release video about the shooting in the coming days.
Hale was notably an alumnus of the small private school, which teaches students in pre-K through 6th grade and only has about 200 students enrolled, according to its website.
Source: New York Post

Internet sleuths were quick to scour the web for Hale’s digital footprint, and seem to have stumbled on the same person.

This seems to be confirmed by independent journalist Andy Ngo.

https://twitter.com/MrAndyNgo/status/1640458823121944579?s=20

While these are unconfirmed reports, a photo of Hale at a table promoting her work was included in the New York Post report.

Some rumors on social media indicate that the shooter may have been motivated by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee’s ban on the medical transition of children earlier this month, but that has not yet been confirmed.

Sources:

Smithson, Daniel; and Garcia, Tony. “3 students, 3 adults, shooter dead after Nashville school shooting, police say.” WSMV 4. March 27, 2023. https://www.wsmv.com/2023/03/27/3-students-3-adults-shooter-dead-after-nashville-school-shooting-police-say/

Smith, Jen; and Serna, Vanessa. “Six killed in Nashville private school shooting: Female ‘teen’ shooter kills three kids and two staff members before being shot by police at Christian elementary school.” Daily Mail. March 27, 2023. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11907711/Multiple-injured-private-Nashville-Christian-school.html

Reyes, Ronnie. “Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale identified as transgender and had detailed manifesto to attack Christian academy.” New York Post. March 27, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/03/27/nashville-school-shooter-audrey-hale-identified-as-transgender-and-had-detailed-manifesto-to-attack-christian-academy/

K. Walker

ClashDaily's Associate Editor since August 2016. Self-described political junkie, anti-Third Wave Feminist, and a nightmare to the 'intersectional' crowd. Mrs. Walker has taken a stand against 'white privilege' education in public schools. She's also an amateur Playwright, former Drama teacher, and staunch defender of the Oxford comma. Follow her humble musings on Twitter: @TheMrsKnowItAll and on Gettr @KarenWalker