March 28, 2023 - Nashville elementary school shooting

President Joe Biden addressed Nashville's deadly school shooting while speaking at an event in Durham, North Carolina, Tuesday, reiterating his call for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban and saying there was a "moral price to pay for inaction."

"As a nation we owe these families more than our prayers," Biden said of the families of the six people who were killed Monday when a 28-year-old former student opened fire at the Covenant School in Nashville. "We owe them action."

The president called himself a "Second Amendment guy," noting he owns shotguns. But he characterized the weapons often used in mass shootings as "weapons of war."

"Why in God's name do we allow these weapons of war on our streets?" he asked.

The president pointed to bipartisan gun safety legislation he signed into law last year, after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, saying, "Don't tell me we can't do more together."

"It's a common sense issue," Biden said. "We have to act now."

Firearms were the leading cause of death among children and adolescents in 2021, for the second year in a row, according to a CNN analysis of data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Firearms first surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of death for children and adolescents in 2020, after a sharp increase in the first year of the pandemic. Deaths from both firearms and motor vehicle crashes increased again in 2021, CDC data shows. 

In 2021, at least 4,733 children and adolescents ages 1 to 19 died from firearms. That’s a 9% increase from the year before, representing nearly 400 more deaths. About 4,300 children and adolescents died from motor vehicle crashes in 2021.

About a tenth of all firearm-related deaths in the United States were among children and adolescents. 

Additional analysis from the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention shows that firearm injuries, motor vehicle crashes and drug poisonings represent nearly half of all deaths among children and adolescents.

The shooter was under care for an "emotional disorder," Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Tuesday.

"Law enforcement knew nothing about the treatment" 28-year-old Aubrey Hale was receiving, he added.

Hale's parents "felt that (Hale) should not own weapons" and were under the impression Hale had sold one weapon and "did not own any more," Drake said.

"As it turned out, (Hale) had been hiding several weapons within the house," Drake said.

Investigators have yet to determine a motive in Monday's shooting at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters in a news conference Tuesday.

Writings from the shooter — who has been identified as a 28-year-old former student of the Covenant School — included a map of the school, Drake said, indicating how the shooter planned to enter the building and carry out the attack. Other places were also mentioned in those writings and are being investigated by the Metro Nashville Police Department and the FBI, per Drake.

At this time, investigators believe the school itself was targeted, police spokesperson Don Aaron said, though authorities have no evidence specific individuals were targeted.

"This school, this church building, was a target of the shooter, but we have no information at present to indicate that the shooter was specifically targeting any one of the six individuals who were murdered," Aaron said.

The shooter who killed six people at a private school in Nashville purchased at least seven guns legally and locally, according to Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake.

Drake said those seven firearms were purchased from five different gun stores in Nashville. Three of the guns were used during the shooting at Covenant School Monday, he said.

Police previously said the shooter was armed with a handgun and two AR-style weapons — one rifle and an AR-style pistol.

Drake said investigators have spoken to the parents of the shooter, Audrey Hale. They believed the shooter did buy at least one weapon, but eventually sold it.

The shooter's parents also told police Hale had a red bag when Hale was leaving the house ahead of the shooting. They asked Hale what was in the bag, but ultimately dismissed it, thinking Hale didn’t own any weapons, according to Drake.

Police believe the shooter was hiding the guns in the house.

The Metro Nashville Police Department is expected to give an update soon on its investigation into Monday's deadly shooting at an elementary school.

Earlier Tuesday, police released body-camera footage from two officers who police say fatally shot the attacker.

Sen. Bill Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican, refused to discuss calls to ban AR-15s after the mass shooting at a Christian school killed six people.

“The tragedy that happened in my state was the result of a depraved person and somebody very, very sick. And the result has been absolutely devastating for the people in my community. Right now with the victims, the family and the people in my community — we are all mourning right now,” Hagerty told CNN.

Asked about banning AR-15-style weapons, he added, “I’m certain politics will wave into everything. But right now I’m not focused on the politics of the situation. I’m focused on the victims.”

Police said the shooter was armed with a handgun and two AR-style weapons — one a rifle and an AR-style pistol.

Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley argued that semi-automatic weapons should not be banned because they have other uses. 

“A lot of people use ARs and AKs for sporting purposes,” he said. 

He said the shooting in Nashville should be investigated as a hate crime and that he has called on FBI Director Christopher Wray and the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas to look into it.

“It appears to be a hate crime and it should be investigated as such, and we need to find out more about this individual, whether this person should have firearms at all — maybe should not have," Hawley said.

The family of Evelyn Dieckhaus has been left in disbelief after she and two other 9-year-olds were killed in Monday's mass school shooting in Nashville, according to a statement obtained by CNN affiliate KMOV. Three adults were also killed in the attack at the Covenant School.

"Our hearts are completely broken. We cannot believe this has happened," the family's statement says. "Evelyn was a shining light in this world. We appreciate all the love and support but ask for space as we grieve."

Here's what we know so far about the six victims.

President Joe Biden suggested Tuesday in the aftermath of another mass school shooting that any future action on gun violence will fall to Congress, as he said he has exhausted all executive actions.

"I can’t do anything except plead with the Congress to act reasonably," the president told CNN’s MJ Lee as he departed the White House for an unrelated trip to North Carolina. His administration has reined in so-called ghost guns, promoted safe storage of firearms, bolstered police forces and expanded community violence intervention programs.

Biden will travel to Nashville, he told Lee. "Yes, I’ve spoken with everyone down there, from the mayor to the senators, all the players, I spoke with the chief of police today," he said. "I’ve spoken to all of them."