Police said Hale drove to the campus, parked and entered after shooting out the glass in a set of double doors. The news they heard just after noon was devastating: Three children and three school staff members were killed. Because a church operates the school, no Nashville police officers were assigned to the building, Aaron said. "Together, we trust in the power of Christ to draw near and give us the comfort and hope we desperately need.. They huddled together in groups with bowed heads and joined together in prayer. This one hits close to home, Joiner said. Ken Dilanian is the justice and intelligence correspondent for NBC News, based in Washington. "MERRY CHRISTMAS! First lady Jill Biden joins vigil; officers Engelbert, Collazo seen in body cam video hailed as heroes: Nashville shooting updates. Floral tributes are left at a memorial outside the entrance to the Covenant School on Wednesday. "I couldnt be prouder of their character in that moment.. After the talk, they left the school. Officers shot and killed the attacker at the Covenant school, which is attached to the Covenant Presbyterian church in the Tennessee state capital. 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. The officer rounded the corner and fired four shots. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., called for federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the shooting as a religious hate crime citing law enforcement reports that the shooter targeted the Christian school. A member of the kitchen staff at the Covenant school reacts after the shooting. 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. Nicole Hester/USA Today Network via REUTERS. Did you encounter any technical issues? A couple hundred people attended the vigil. ", 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. Police identified . Sims' father declined to comment Wednesday. The latest in an epidemic of deadly mass gun violence that has come to routinely terrorize even the most cherished of U.S. institutions unfolded on a warm spring morning at The Covenant School, whose students consist mostly of elementary school-age children. Drake said that Hale, who attended Covenant School, had "some history" with the school which may have played a role in the motive for Monday's shooting. "I doubt that there's anyone you can talk to who would even be able to answer why. President Joe Biden spoke with reporters Tuesday and again pleaded for Congress to act on gun reform, one day after three children and three adults were killed in a school shooting in Nashville. "In this moment, we remember that we are one Nashville, regardless of our school affiliation.". "Drake said two of the weapons were legally purchased in the Nashville area but did not specify which ones. On a given day, slightly over200students and 42 staff members are at the school, Aaron said. Nashville shooter who killed 6 drew maps, surveilled school. Bill Lee said he was "closely monitoring the tragic situation. Police have recovered Hale's cell phone and will conduct analysis, Metro Police spokesperson Don Aaron said Tuesday. The helpline recommended that Patton call police, which she did. Media tents lining the sidewalk across the street stretch for blocks. "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. As Englebert moved to the second floor, eight gunshots can be heard down the hallway. The staffers wereKatherine Koonce, 60, identified on the Covenant website as "head of school"; substitute teacherCynthia Peak, 61;and custodian Mike Hill, 61. Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. Several vigils were held Monday night across Nashville in honor of the victims and their families. The photo, which remained on the congressman's Facebook page as of Monday night, shows his wife and two of his three children smiling and holding firearms in front of a Christmas tree. First lady. "It's ripping our communities apart ripping at the very soul of our nation. 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. 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. Police also said . 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. He added:"All of Tennessee was hurt yesterday, but some parents woke up without children, children woke up without parents and without teachers, and spouses woke up without their loved ones. Drake said investigators believed the shooting stemmed from some resentment the suspect harbored for having to go to that school as a younger person. The school employs about 33 faculty members. "Our high school was really accepting of that.". Policing experts said its essential that officials are mindful of what they tell the public, especially since an investigation is so fluid. Please click here for the. Officer Rex Engelbert fired four 5.56 rounds from his rifle, police said Monday, while Officer Michael Collazo fired four rounds from his 9 mm pistol. 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. "Arent you tired of this," she said, taking over the microphones after a news conference. Police quickly worked through the first floor clearing classrooms and encouraging each other to move faster. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. We dont know if gender identity played a part, but theres a conversation to be had that speaks to societys continual rejection and conflict over ones identity that can lead to this disconnect and frustration, Dunton said. Police initially identified Hale by his birth name and gender. The website counts any instance when a firearm is fired or pointed at someone in a school, or when a bullet hits school property. Mourners gathered at the Belmont United Methodist Church to remember and pray for the victims of The Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. 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. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much Some conservatives seized on that angle to blame the killings at the Christian school on Hales gender identity, with the hashtag #TransTerrorism trending on Twitter. April 19, 2023 / 10:02 AM / CBS/AP. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Is there a clue thats a tipoff? Giacalone asked. We believe in prayer and we believe in the power of prayer. MORE: What we know about Tennessee's gun laws after Nashville shooting The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs. I'm very sad for her parents, because they losttheir child.". Hallie was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, lead pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church, according to a statement fromhis former church in Dallas. Nashville police release chilling bodycam video after deadly shooting 04:08 Updated March 29, 2023, 1:27 AM UTC By NBC News Coverage on this live blog has ended. Hale's social media content will also be analyzed. A woman whose mother teaches at the school told reporters they texted as the attack took place. Adrienne Battle, the director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, opened a Tuesday night school board meeting by sharing a few thoughts about the shooting. 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. All Rights Reserved. Who are the Nashville officers who killed the Covenant School shooting suspect? ", 'This is shattering'Nashville officials respond to The Covenant School shooting. In Uvalde, where 19 students and two teacherswere killed, it took more than 70 minutes to end the threat. Police said Hale was armed with "significant ammunition.". Hale walks in hallways and aims the assault rifle before the video cuts off. (modern), Six people killed by shooter at school in Nashville video. 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." Two of the five officers on the floor opened fire on the shooter and killed Haleby 10:27 a.m., Aaronsaid. Drake spoke to President Joe Biden, who was planning to reach out to the responding officers this week. 2:59 PM EDT, Mon April 3, 2023. USA TODAY. The Covenant school has about 209 students from pre-school through sixth grade and 42 staff members, Aaron said. Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile. Just before the shooting at The Covenant School, Patton got a message from Hale, who warned that something bad was about to happen. The manifesto may have some answers in it or it may lead to some other people, but until you go through all of that, authorities shouldnt comment on a motive, he said. Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, was an illustrator and graphic designer. And I know hes the kind of guy that would do that. He said he was one of several chaplains, psychologists, life coaches and clergy inside supporting the families. The shooter had planned the attack for months, according to those journals, which police said were located in the attackers car and bedroom. She encouraged people to seek help or support if they need it, and to extend it to others. Station 20 is the closest fire station to the school. The video then shows Hale walking in hallways and aiming an assault rifle before the video cuts off. The high school version of Hale showed no signs of resentment of anyone, Hardcastle said. Follow the latest updates on the Covenant School shooting as they happen in our live blog here. People were involuntarily trembling, said Dibble, whose children attend a different private school in Nashville. The shooting at the Covenant school in Nashville was the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country that has grown increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools. 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. A steady stream of traffic continued to roll down Burton Hills Boulevard under overcast skies. Grayson pulled out of the parking lot about 10:12 a.m., she said. Mondays update on the investigation comes a week after Hale armed with three firearms, according to police stormed the Covenant School, gaining entry to the building by firing through the buildings locked glass doors. Police said Hale, who was assigned female at birth but identified as a man,bought the firearms betweenOctober 2020 and June 2022. Nothing in the brief encounter at Patton's show gave Hardcastle any belief something was going to go horrifically wrong. Hale also said in the messages to Patton that a March 13 Instagram post was actually a suicide note. Police should release Hales writings when they can, he added, if only to put a spotlight on others who may be struggling and considering using violence. Body camera footage released Tuesday shows armed Nashville officers swiftly moving from one room to another in the school before confronting Hale. ': mother pleads for action after Nashville school shooting video. Aaron said there were no police personnel assigned to the school. 'OUR COMMUNITY IS HEARTBROKEN':Covenant School community seeks prayer in wake of deadly mass shooting. I thought I would just see this on TV, she said. They heard shots coming from the second level. Either way, its so sad as were trying to understand the cause and motive, realizing that whatever information is shared might be weaponized against an already marginalized group.. Hillsboro High School junior Alayna Mitchell was in class on Monday when Monday's shooting took place at Covenant School. They "immediately went to the gunfire," he said. We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place., Draketold NBC News that Hale might have had"some resentment for having to go to that school.". Authorities said Hale identified as a transgender person and was assigned female at birth, according to court records. ", "One day this will make more sense," Hale wrote. The Covenant School is a private school founded in 2001 that serves students inpre-kindergarten through sixth grade, according to its website. So the front door is actually on the side of the building. Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the worlds largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. The shooter, Aaron said entered on the lower floor. The shooter entered through a side entrance of the school and went to the second floor "firing multiple shots," Aaron said, adding that alldoors were locked. 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.. Thats the way we do that in the south. The intruder was in a "lobby-type area," not a classroom, Aaron said. 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. And while little is known publicly about the shooter's gender identity and whether it even played a role in the massacre, the disinformation surrounding transgender people has also left members of the LGBTQ community worried about their own safety amid a larger debate over LGBTQ rights. 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. And thats 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. People gather at a makeshift memorial for victims outside the Covenant school building. 'There is no universal school safety solution.' Nashvilles chief of police, John Drake, told NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt that the shooter had planned to attack several different places, saying a manifesto belonging to the suspect indicates that there was going to be shootings at multiple locations, and the school was one of them. She and her husband Micah Wilfong were speaking to students Monday morning about their mission trip to Kenya. Enrollment fluctuates between 195 and 210. Follow along in Wednesday's new blog for live updates as we learn more. It serves preschool through sixth graders and held an active shooter training program in 2022, WTVF-TV reported. 3:16. Hale attended Covenant, a pre-kindergarten through sixth-grade private school, at around 10 years old, a former headmaster said. Neither of the two officers who fired on the shooter, Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo, had been in a similar situation, MNPD chief John Drake said Tuesday. 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. They immediately went to the gunfire.". As her building was placed under lockdown, she took out her phone and recorded the chaos. Hale's parents believed that due to Hale's emotional state, Hale should not have owned weapons. The shooter was dead by 10.27am. We will respond with resilience to these events, but we are called to be a little more intentional and specific in how we cope with them, Gorter said. For an hour, city leaders, including Mayor James Maness, Police Chief James Hambrick and several church pastors, prayed and offered their condolences to The Covenant School and the entire Nashville community. Spare us the hand-wringing," Cash said on Twitter. Evelyns sister cried as she said, I dont want to be an only child.. He also said Hale identified as transgender. During one call, made at 10:13 a.m., a woman in an art room closet inside . The shooter was named as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, and from Nashville. Don Aaron, a spokesperson for MNPD, said Hale was believed to have entered a side entrance around 10:13 a.m. Monday with two assault rifles and a handgun. Officers were reviewing video from the school, he said. Its been characterized as a manifesto. follow our coverage from Tuesday, March 28 here. The heavily armed shooter accused of killing six people at a Nashville Christian school left behind writings and a map outlining motives for the attack, authorities said Monday. Hale, who police said was under care for an emotional disorder, had legally purchased seven firearms and hidden them at home, per Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake. As he ascends the stairs to the second floor, an officer ahead of him looks left out. We have to do more to stop gun violence ripping our communities apart, the president said at the White House. 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. Police received a call of an active shooter at 10:13 a.m., Aaron said. A group prays with a child outside the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church. Joseph Giacalone, a retired sergeant with the New York City Police Department and an adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the need for caution becomes even more crucial when the suspect was known to have a mental illness and is no longer living. In an interview with CBS Mornings on Tuesday, Metro Nashville police chief John Drake said there were other targets, including a mall, outlined in materials obtained at Hale's residence following Monday's shooting. 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. 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. As a public service, The Tennessean has made this content free. 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. ", Nashville Mayor John Cooper thanked first responders and medical professionals and said his "heart goes out to the families of the victims." In 2020, guns overtook auto accidents as the leading cause of death among children and teens. Britney, a pediatric surgeon, pulled out her phone and answered a few text messages sitting in her car. NASHVILLE, Tenn. Audrey Hale struggled to cope with the death of a close friend in the months before the rampage that killed six people at a private Christian school, those who knew the school shooter said Wednesday.