3 Children, 3 Adults Killed by Woman at Private Christian School in Nashville: Police

Three children and three adults were killed in a mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee on Monday morning. 

The shooter, who was killed by police, was a 28-year-old white woman, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. (Police initially said at a press conference that they believed she was a teenage girl). 

Police department spokesperson Don Aaron said she was armed with “at least two assault-type rifles and a handgun.”

At 10:13 a.m, police were alerted to an active shooter inside the Covenant School at the Covenant Presbyterian Church. When they arrived at the scene, they heard shots coming from the second level of the school, said Aaron. 

Police Chief John Drake said that the shooter was a resident of Nashville, and they believe she was a student at the school at one point. Drake was unable to say whether she was wearing body armor or not.

Police “immediately went to the gunfire” and when they reached the second storey, they encountered a woman who was firing. Two officers from the five-member team who responded engaged her. By 10:27 a.m she was dead, said Aaron. 

There were no other gunshot victims, said Aaron. He was unable to say whether victims were shot prior or after police arrived on the scene.  

The shooting took place in a lobby-type area, rather than a classroom, said Aaron. The shooter appeared to have entered the school through a side door, and then made her way to the second floor. 

In a second press conference Monday, Police Chief Drake declined to offer any information about the ages of the victims, saying only that he was “moved to tears” by the killings, and by seeing the children being ushered out of the building to safety. 

“I hoped that we would never have this situation, but if we ever did, I hoped we would not wait, we would immediately go in, and we would immediately engage the person perpetrating this horrible crime,” said Drake. He added that the shooting could have been “far, far worse.” 

He said that officials will review surveillance footage as part of their investigation into the shooting. 

President Joe Biden addressed the shooting on Monday, calling it “heartbreaking.”

“We have to do more to stop gun violence, it’s ripping our communities apart, it’s ripping the soul of this nation,” said Biden, and called on Congress to pass a ban on assault weapons.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.