March 28, 2023 - Nashville elementary school shooting

Mike Hill, 61, who was killed in the shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville where he worked, was the father of seven children and had 14 grandkids, his family said in a statement obtained by CNN affiliate WSMV. He loved to cook and spend time with his family, it added. 

His family thanked those who sent their "thoughts and prayers" and asked for ongoing support as they "grieve and try to grasp any sense of understanding of why this happened."

Nashville parents have set up a GoFundMe for Hill to help his family with funeral expenses. He was known as "Big Mike" to his students, the GoFundMe said.

His daughter, Brittany Hill, said in a Facebook post on Monday that her dad "absolutely loved" his job. 

"I have watched school shootings happen over the years and never thought I would lose a loved one over a person trying to solve a temporary problem with a permanent solution," she wrote. "I am so sorry for the loss of those children," she added. 

"Please keep my family in your prayers tonight. Hug your parents and children a little tighter," she said in the post.

CNN's Taliah Miller and Jillian Sykes contributed reporting to this post.

The sense of safety inside the Covenant School in Nashville was shattered Monday when a former student burst into the private Christian school wielding an assault-style rifle and killed three 9-year-old children and three adults.

The shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was killed by police. Authorities believe the six victims were targeted randomly.

Here's a timeline of what happened:

9:57 a.m.

Hale sends an ominous message to childhood friend Averianna Patton on Instagram, Patton told CNN on Tuesday. The direct message from Hale said, “I’m planning to die today” and that Patton would see it on the news.

Disturbed by the message, Patton contacted her father for advice. He suggested she call a suicide prevention line for assistance, which she did. But because Patton was not the person at risk of harming herself, the call recipient advised Patton to contact local law enforcement, she said.

Around 10:13 a.m.

Patton calls the Davidson County Sheriff's Office in Nashville but was on hold for “maybe like 7 minutes,” she said. By then, the deadly rampage at Covenant School had already started.

10:13 a.m.

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department receives a call about an active shooter inside the school. Surveillance video shows the shooter entering the school by firing through glass doors and climbing through.

10:18 a.m.

Timestamped surveillance footage from inside the school shows Hale armed with multiple weapons walking down a hallway.

10:24 a.m.

Nashville officers arrive at the school, Police Chief John Drake said. Bodycam footage shows police entering the school amid wailing fire alarms and immediately going to several rooms to look for the shooter.

Officers hear gunfire on the second floor and rush up the stairs as the shots grow louder, the video shows.

10:27 a.m.

Officer Rex Engelbert sees the shooter and fires about four rounds with an assault-style rifle. His bodycam footage shows the attacker collapsing.

Officer Michael Collazo then moved toward the shooter while it appeared a gun was still in the assailant’s hand. Collazo appeared to shoot the attacker on the ground four times with a handgun, yelling “Stop moving!” The officers finally approached the assailant, moved a gun away and then radioed “Suspect down! Suspect down!”

Sports teams are honoring the people killed in a shooting at a Nashville elementary school on Monday.

There will be a moment of silence observed before Tuesday night's NHL game between the Nashville Predators and the Boston Bruins, the Boston team announced. Players from both teams are also set to wear helmet decals with the Covenant School insignia.

Boston said its foundation will donate $10,000 to Nashville's foundation "to support their efforts in helping the victims’ families."

In its own statement, the Predators said the team is moving "forward with heavy hearts in preparation" for Tuesday's game.

"We will do our best to be mindful and respectful of the more important things in society today, continuing to pray for the shooting victims, their families and the entire Covenant School family, our hearts filled with love and hope for everyone affected," the team said in a tweet.

Vanderbilt Baseball announced that ticket proceeds from its game against Lipscomb Tuesday will go toward the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to benefit the Covenant School.

The money will be "supporting those affected by the tragedy that unfolded in the Nashville community on Monday," the team said on its website.

Editor's note: This post contains graphic descriptions of violence.

The Metro Nashville Police Department released body-camera footage of at least two police officers who responded to Monday's shooting at Covenant School.

The footage is from the body-worn cameras of officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo, who police said fatally shot the attacker on Monday at 10:27 a.m. local time.

At the start of the six-minute video, Engelbert is seen arriving at the school and exiting his vehicle. He grabs a long rifle from the car's trunk and heads toward one part of the building before heading toward a door. The officer approaches a woman outside the school who says the school is on lockdown but there are two children unaccounted for. 

The woman, a school official, directs Engelbert to go upstairs.

Another school official is seen handing the officer a key to open an exterior door into the building. Engelbert yells to his fellow officers: "Let's go, I need three!" 

Engelbert enters the school — about one minute after pulling up to the building — with other officers following and immediately getting into a tactical formation. About three minutes into the video, gunshots are heard in the distance and an officer is heard saying "It's upstairs, sounds like it’s upstairs."

The officers rush up a stairwell as the gunshots grow louder. 

The flashes from the shooter's gunfire are seen in Collazo's bodycam footage, which leads the officers down a hall to the suspect's position.

The officers approach the sound of gunfire and Engelbert rounds a corner and fires multiple times at a person near a large window, who drops to the ground, the video shows.

Collazo then pushes forward and appears to shoot the person on the ground four times with a handgun, yelling, “Stop moving!” The officers finally approach the person, move a gun away and then radio, “Suspect down! Suspect down!

Along with the Nashville community, people outside of Tennessee are grieving Cynthia Peak, 61, who was killed on Monday during a shooting at The Covenant School.

Peak, whom police believe to have been a substitute teacher at the school, is from Leesville, Louisiana, where childhood friends are remembering her.

Louisiana state Rep. Charles Anthony Owen said he has known Peak his whole life.

Owen said in the Facebook post that when his sister Mae died, Peak was one of the first faces he recalled seeing.

"She was right here to grieve her old friend," he said. 

"I grieve through tears as I write these words, but I know Cindy is in Heaven with her father, Dr. Bill Broyles, her mother, Nell Broyles, and her oldest sister, Diane. I also can take solace that she and my sister are once again holding hands and smiling," he added.

President Joe Biden has not spoken to any of the families of the six victims killed during a school shooting in Nashville Monday, but said he is "working on that now.” 

The president told reporters traveling with him in Durham, North Carolina, that he has talked to "everyone but the families," including the police chief and the two officers who entered the building and confronted the shooter.

Biden also expanded on his conversation with Tennessee Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty, telling reporters, “I expressed my concern and asked him if there was anything I could do to be able to help, and I understand from some folks he's a fairly reasonable guy.” 

The president said discussions about possible plans to visit Nashville are “underway now,” and his team is trying to figure out "what helps the most.” 

Biden said that calls for Congress to pass legislation curbing gun violence are focused on exposure.

He reiterated that there’s “nothing absolute about any amendment,” including the 2nd Amendment’s protection of the right to bear arms.

“This is ridiculous, and it’s all about money,” he said. “Big, big, big money.”

In light of calls from lawmakers for the Department of Justice to investigate the deadly school shooting in Nashville as a hate crime, officials say they are focusing on identifying the motive of the Nashville school shooter.

In response to a question about the instance possibly being a hate crime targeting Christians, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland said investigators are "working full time" on this objective.

The shooting took place at Covenant School, a Christian private school.

"Of course, motive is what determines whether it's a hate crime or not," he added.

Some background: Earlier Tuesday, GOP Sen. Josh Hawley said he believed that the shooting in Nashville should be investigated as a hate crime. 

“We need to find out more about this individual, whether this person should have firearms at all — maybe should not have,” Hawley said. 

Garland was testifying about the DOJ budget request before a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

Jim and Monica Lee are remembering their friend and former coworker Katherine Koonce as a wonderful human being who was sassy and full of grace. 

Koonce was one of the six people killed at the Monday shooting in at the Covenant School in Nashville, where she worked, Monday.

Jim Lee, who is an airline pilot, said when he heard about the shooting, he texted Koonce right away, but she never texted back. He started to get worried and tried to get in contact with other people who worked at the school. 

Soon, he got a text saying his friend was shot and later died at the hospital.

The Lees flew to Nashville when they heard about the shooting and the death of their friend because they just wanted to be back in the community. They now live in Atlanta.

Jim Lee described Koonce as being witty and sassy with a “crazy sense of humor.” He said she made people feel like they were the most important person when she talked with them, everyone from her preschool students to board members and presents at the school.

“She had this amazing confidence but she was a person of grace,” he said. “She was an educator, but she also had great pastoral and counseling and nurturing skills or she had those CEO skills that could tell you that you need to kind of get in your place,” he added, with a laugh.

“They just lost hugely at this school,” Monica Lee added. “They’re going to have a hard time filling her shoes.”

Correction: A previous version of this post misspelled Jim Lee's first name.

Police found writings with school shooter Audrey Hale’s body as well as in Hale’s car, according to Don Aaron, the Metro Nashville Police Department's public affairs director.

Both documents were different, and detectives from the city's homicide and intelligence bureaus are reviewing the writings, Aaron told CNN on Tuesday. 

In the writings, Hale mentioned a mall near the site of The Covenant School shooting as another possible target, according to the spokesperson. 

Aaron would not confirm if the location was the Mall at Green Hills, which is up the street from the school. 

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said writings mentioned shootings at “multiple locations,” including at the school. 

Hale killed three children and three adults on Monday before being fatally shot by responding police officers.

Aaron also discussed the seven weapons that police say Hale had owned.

In addition to the three weapons at the scene on Monday, two shotguns were taken from Hale’s home, Aaron said. Police believe one weapon had been sold and the seventh weapon remains unaccounted for.

Aaron said the seven weapons were purchased between October 20, 2020, and June 6, 2022.