By Amanda Nagy
On Monday, March 27th three 9-year-old children and three adults were shot and killed in a school shooting in Nashville Tennessee. The Covenant Christian School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church and has an average enrollment of about 200 people. It was a normal morning at the Covenant School until the first calls of an active shooter came in to the Metro Nashville Police Department at around 10:15 A.M. local time. The suspect was shot down by police at 10:27 A.M. The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, a former student at the Covenant School. According to the Metro Nashville Police Chief, Hale had drawn detailed maps of the school, detailing how the shooting was going to take place. When Hale’s vehicle was searched after the shooting took place, writings done by Hale were found which revealed that this attack was planned out and calculated. A social media message apparently sent by the shooter just minutes before the attack stated that “something bad was about to happen” and the receiver of these messages called the police department before the attack. Police did not show up to the receiver’s home until much later that afternoon. Hale also mentioned that she had “left behind more than enough evidence” and that “one day this will make more sense” Police have identified all three of the 9-year-old victims as William Kinney, Hallie Scruggs, and Evelyn Dieckhaus. Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of lead church pastor, Chad Scruggs. The adult victims have been identified as Mike Hill, 61; Cynthia Peak, 61; and Katherine Koonce, 60. The community is praying for the families of these victims. This attack counted as the 19th school shooting in just this year alone. There have been well over 300 shootings since the Columbine shooting in 1999. These incidents make us question our safety in our own schools and communities. There is a lot of talk and discussion about how we can better protect our schools and college campuses from shootings but the school’s aren’t the main issue. We need gun control. There may already be some criteria in place for who can and cannot get a gun, but they are somehow still finding their way into the hands of the wrong people time and time again. Shaundelle Brooks, the mother of Akilah DaSilva who was killed in a 2018 mass shooting, thought back to the moment her son was killed when her other child was put on lockdown this Monday. No parent should have to feel the fear of losing their child twice in their lifetime, especially not for the same reason. Metro Nashville Police have continued to update the community on the developments of their investigation via Twitter and we should have more information on motive, background, and evidence as time goes on.
