Police are looking into the motives of the heavily armed former student who massacred six people at a Nashville school

The Nashville, Tennessee, Covenant School Shooting: A Shooter with AR-style Weapons and detailed Maps on a Nashville Elementary School

Police in Nashville are digging into the background and motivations of a former student who entered a Christian elementary school armed with AR-style weapons and detailed maps and opened fire, killing three children and three adults.

So far, little is known about the shooter. The president of the school that Hale graduated from confirmed to CNN that he was a graphic designer and part-time grocery shopper.

As police work to piece together what led up to the violence, officials said they had determined where the shooter lived in the Nashville area and have interviewed Hale’s father. The scene of the school attack was going to be processed Tuesday and investigators were going to gather more information.

The shooter got into the school with guns and began an attack that lasted nearly 15 minutes and spread over two floors.

The police chief said he was moved to tears when he saw the kids being ushered out of the building.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/28/us/covenant-school-shooting-nashville-tennessee-tuesday/index.html

A Nashville Elementary School Student Shooting: Evelyn Peak, Mike Hill, and Shaundelle Brooks, 61, and the Day of Akilah DaSilva

All three students shot and killed were 9 years old. They were named Evelyn, Hallie, and William. Cynthia Peak, a 60-year-old woman and Mike Hill, a 61-year-old man were killed in the shooting.

Shaundelle Brooks, who lost her son Akilah DaSilva during a 2018 mass shooting at a Nashville-area Waffle House, said she was brought back to that painful moment as her other son was placed on lockdown at a nearby school Monday.

The shooter was “someone that had multiple rounds of ammunition, prepared for confrontation with law enforcement, prepared to do more harm than was actually done,” the police chief said in a news conference.

At the very least two of the three weapons that were found were obtained legally, according to Drake. A search warrant executed at Hale’s home also resulted in the seizure of a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other evidence, according to police.

They went upstairs and confronted the shooter, who “had been firing through a window at arriving police cars,” police said in the news release. Two officers then opened fire, killing the shooter at 10:27 a.m., police spokesperson Don Aaron said.

“I was hoping this day would never ever come here in the city. Drake said in a Monday news conference that they will never wait to enter and stop a threat because it deals with our children.

“This school prepared for this with active shooter training for a reason. We don’t like to think that this is ever going to happen to us. But experience has taught us that we need to be prepared because in this day and time it is the reality of where we are,” Nashville Metropolitan Councilman Russ Pulley told CNN.

The school website shows that Koonce got her master’s degree from Georgia State University, but she also attended school in Nashville, where she earned her bachelor’s degree.

Mike Hill was identified in the staff section of the Covenant Presbyterian Church’s website, which is now offline. He worked as a facilities/ kitchen staff. A friend of Mike Hill confirmed his image to CNN. Hill, 61, was a custodian at the school, per police.

There will be a lot of interest and debate, but we will continue to focus on our community and the well-being of our friends and neighbors. The first responders acted quickly to protect our students, faculty and staff, and we are grateful to them. We ask for privacy as our community grapples with this terrible tragedy – for our students, parents, faculty and staff,” the statement continued.

Pastor John Cooper, the pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church, Nashville, TN, says prayer is the most powerful thing we can do to protect children and their families

The Covenant Presbyterian Church founded a Christian school in 2001 called the Covenant School which teaches preschool through 6th grade.

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

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.

Biden said that Congress needs to ban assault weapons in order to protect schools. The solution is not likely to be a bipartisan one with a slim Democratic majority in the Senate.

The sun was shining bright as I pulled up to the parking lot of Christ Presbyterian Church. I had been late for the start of a prayer service because traffic backed up and I was aware that the Covenant School shooting had occurred just a couple of miles up the road. Christ Presbyterian is a sister church of Covenant Presbyterian Church, a member of the same evangelical denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, P.C.A. for short.

There was a lot of people in the church. There were people in the pews. The walls were lined with people. Faces were streaked with tears. Morrow, head of Christ Presbyterian Academy, spoke to the congregation as I walked into the room. “Prayer,” he said, “is the first and most powerful thing we can do.”

Moms and Dads of Shooting Victims. Evelyn Peak, the Loss of a Girl in Nashville, died in a school shooting on Monday

If you’re a parent of a schoolchild in 2023, you’ve perhaps gotten some form of the “lockdown” text. It could happen from the school, announcing a dangerous or suspicious incident at school or nearby. More likely it would come from your network of friends. “Does anyone know anything?” someone will ask. They’ll have heard about an incident elsewhere in town, and the rumors cascade across social media and group texts.

People who knew six people that were killed in a shooting on Monday at a Nashville school are dealing with their grief and remembering their legacies.

The family of the man, who worked at the school, said in a statement that Hill was the father of seven children and had 14 grandkids. He was fond of cooking and spending time with his family.

She said she had never thought of losing a loved one over a person trying to solve a temporary problem with a permanent solution. She apologized for the loss of the children.

The Louisiana state Representative has known Peak for a long time. He said she was always there when you needed her. Owen remembered how Peak would hang out with his sister. When Mae Ann died, the post said, Peak was one of the first faces he recalled seeing.

Koonce was the head of the school, according to the website. Her friends Monica and Jim Lee, remember her as a person who was kind, smart and full of life.

“She had this amazing confidence but she was a person of grace,” Jim Lee 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.

Our hearts are broken. We cannot believe this has happened,” the family’s statement says. Evelyn was a shining light in the world. We appreciate all of the support, but ask for a break as we grieve.

The Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas said that their former pastor, Chad SCAuggs, lost his daughter in the shooting.