Nashville police confirmed this morning that three children and three adults had been killed in a shooting at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville. They also said the shooter, a 28-year-old female, was “engaged” by police and killed. Ninety-eight percent of mass shooters are male, according to the Violence Project, which tracks such violence. An official said the woman was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.
“Three children lost their lives this morning — and also the shooter,” was the horrific headline this morning as MSNBC cut away from its national coverage to go to the feed from a Nashville station covering a horrific mass shooting. The other two major cable news networks soon joined the coverage.
Nashville police said, “The shooter was engaged by MNPD and is dead.” Local police later confirmed three adults were killed.
In a briefing, police said that the first call about an active shooter came in at 10:13 a.m. local time. Officers responded and heard shots on the second story of the school and had stopped the shooter by 10:27 a.m.
Officials said there are typically 209 students at the school on a given day and 40-50 staff members.
The fire department issued the following statement: “We can confirm we have multiple patients. Parents coming to the school should go to 20 Burton Hills at this time.”
Former FBI Special Agent Jim Cavanaugh, who lives nearby, told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell that the school is located in an affluent, suburban community. It is just down the street from the famed Bluebird Cafe.
“This is an area where people live who are in the music business: music stars, country stars, recording stars. People who’re in that industry live all around that area.”
One local news reporter said she had covered an active shooter training event at the Covenant School just 13 months ago.
deadline.com