At least 3 children and 3 adults killed in Nashville elementary school shooting

By Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury, Zoe Sottile, Amir Vera, Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha, Melissa Macaya and Helen Regan, CNN

Updated 7:18 a.m. ET, March 28, 2023

35 Posts

Sort by

9:35 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Police continue to investigate the school shooting that killed 6 in Nashville. Here's what we know now

From CNN staff

Mario Dennis, one of the kitchen staff at the Covenant School, sits near a police officer after a shooting at the facility in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday. (Kevin Wurm/Reuters)

At least three students and three adults are dead following a shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, the Metro Nashville Police Department said Monday. The students who were killed were all 9 years old, police said.

The shooter, who was identified as a 28-year-old former student of the school, was also killed in a shootout with police.

Here's what we know so far:

About Covenant School: The school is a private Christian school founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church. It has an average enrollment of about 200 people in recent years, according to its website, and it teaches preschool through 6th grade.
What happened: Don Aaron, spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department, said the first calls of an active shooting came in at around 10:15 a.m. local time. When officers arrived, they went through the first level of the building, he said. They then heard gunshots coming from the second level of the building, according to Aaron. He said that's where police confronted and killed the shooter at 10:27 a.m. local time.
The shooter: The shooter has been identified as 28-year-old Nashville resident Audrey Hale. The shooter was armed with a handgun and two AR-style weapons — one a rifle and an AR-style pistol, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said. Two of those may have been obtained legally and locally in Nashville, Drake said. According to initial findings, the shooter was once a student at the school, he added, though he said police are unsure what years.
Prior planning: The shooter had drawn detailed maps of Covenant School, Drake said, including the entry points to the building and detailing "how this was all gonna take place." Drake said police believe the shooter shot through one of the doors to get into the school. Drake said the school was the only location targeted by the shooter. Police have also located writings that they are reviewing.
The victims: The three students who were shot and killed at Covenant School were all 9 years old, police said. They have been identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, according to police. Three adults were also killed in the shooting. They have been identified as 61-year-old Cynthia Peak, 60-year-old Katherine Koonce and 61-year-old Mike Hill, police said.
What's next: Police will spend the next two days processing the scene and working to gather more details about what happened during a shooting at a Nashville elementary school, Aaron said, adding police also intend to release video soon. Officials said they knew where the shooter lived and they have interviewed the shooter's father.
Call for gun safety legislation: President Joe Biden called the shooting at a Nashville school "heartbreaking, a family's worst nightmare," while advocating for gun reform. Biden said Congress needs to pass an assault weapons ban because we "need to do more to protect our schools." However, a bipartisan solution is extremely unlikely this Congress with a slim Democratic majority in the Senate and a GOP-led House. Nashville Mayor John Cooper said too many children are dying from guns and that the community needs to come together to support each other.
Mass shootings in America: There have been at least 130 mass shooting in the US so far in 2023, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. The Gun Violence Archive, like CNN, defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter.

5:43 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Presbyterian Church in America sends "heartfelt concerns and prayers" to shooting victims

From CNN's Jamiel Lynch

In a statement sent to CNN, Bryan Chapell of the Presbyterian Church in America expressed the church's condolences to the victims of the Covenant School shooting.

“Our heartfelt concerns and prayers are for the families of Covenant Presbyterian Church, the Covenant School and the Nashville community. We grieve the loss and trauma associated with this horrible tragedy. May God comfort all who mourn. May He provide wisdom to the authorities as they investigate as well as to the church leadership as they minister to a grieving congregation and community.”

Covenant School was founded as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, according to its website. The church is part of the Presbyterian Church in America.

5:48 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Police expected to be processing shooting scene into Tuesday

Metro Nashville Police officers gather near The Covenant School, in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean/AP)

Police will spend the next two days processing the scene and working to gather more details about what happened during a shooting at a Nashville elementary school, the Metro Nashville Police Department said.

This will likely occur Monday evening into Tuesday, said the department's spokesperson, Don Aaron.

Aaron said police also intend to release video soon.

Police also said they knew where the shooter lived and they interviewed the shooter's father and will continue their investigation.

5:34 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Shooter identified as 28-year-old Nashville resident

From CNN’s Jamiel Lynch

According to Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake, the person who killed six people, including three children at Covenant School in Nashville Monday has been identified as Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old Nashville resident.

Drake said that they have determined that maps were drawn of the school with details of surveillance and entry points.

The shooter gained entry into the school by shooting through one of the doors, he added.

Drake said police have interviewed the shooter’s father.

11:32 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Shooter had 2 AR-style weapons and a handgun, police chief says

A weapon allegedly used at the Covenant School by the mass shooting suspect is seen in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. on March 27. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department/Reuters)

The suspect in Monday's shooting was armed with three firearms, Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake said.

"We know there were two AR-style weapons. One a rifle, another was an AR-style pistol and the other was a handgun," Drake said during a news conference Monday. "We believe two of those may have been obtained legally, locally here."

8:20 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Police say they've found the shooter's writings

Police have located writings and a map associated with the shooting at the Covenant School, according to Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake.

"We have a manifesto, we have some writings that we're going over that pertain to this date," said Drake at a Monday afternoon press conference. "We have a map drawn out of how this was all gonna take place."

He added that the school was the only location targeted by the shooter.

5:42 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Shooter had detailed maps of the school and shot through a door to gain entry, police say

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake speaks to the media on Monday, in Nashville, Tennessee. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean/AP)

The 28-year-old shooter had drawn detailed maps of Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said during a news conference Monday.

“We've also determined that there were maps drawn of the school in detail of — surveillance, entry points, et cetera. We know and believe entry was gained through shooting through one of the doors, is how they actually got into the school,” the police chief said.

5:26 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Children dying from gun violence is unacceptable, Nashville mayor says

Nashville Mayor John Cooper said too many children are dying from guns — a point punctuated by a mass shooting at an elementary school Monday morning that killed six people, three of them children.

"The leading cause of kids' death now is guns and gunfire and that is unacceptable," Cooper said.

A recent study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in December backs that point, finding that homicide is a leading cause of death for children in the United States and the overall rate has increased an average of 4.3% each year for nearly a decade.

Cooper said he is “overwhelmed at the thought of the loss of these families, of the future lost by these children and their families."

He said the community needs to come together and support each other.

5:12 p.m. ET, March 27, 2023

Biden had "quite visceral" reaction to news that children had died in Nashville shooting, official says

From CNN's MJ Lee and Jasmine Wright

When President Joe Biden was initially briefed on the Nashville school shooting that killed six people, he had a “quite visceral” reaction to the news that children were among the casualties, according to a senior administration official familiar with Biden’s response to the news.

Biden has been kept up to date throughout the day as more information has come out about the circumstances surrounding the Nashville shooting.

Earlier this afternoon, Biden lamented in remarks in the East Room that gun violence was “ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of the nation."

Vice President Kamala Harris said she has been thinking and praying for the community, acknowledging the shooting at the top of her remarks during the State Banquet in Ghana.

"This community has been changed forever. So to the people of Nashville, please know that we are thinking of you and that you are in our prayers and in our hearts and that Doug and I send you all of our best during this time of grief," Harris said.