A shooting at a private Christian elementary school Monday morning in Nashville, Tennessee killed three children and three adults, NBC Dallas Fort Worth reports. The suspect was killed during police response to the scene. The shooting is one of at least 130 mass shootings in the U.S. so far this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
The shooting occurred at the Covenant School, a Presbyterian school with about 200 kids between preschool and sixth grade. The three 9-year-old children were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital. The adults killed include the school’s top administrator, a substitute teacher and a custodian, the Associated Press reports.
The shooter, who died on the scene, was identified by law enforcement as 28-year-old former Covenant student Audrey Hale. Initial reports misidentified the suspect as a teenager. Hale was armed with at least two assault-style rifles and a pistol. The suspect shot at responding police through the windows of the second floor of the school when they responded. Police are currently looking over a suspected shooter’s manifesto and other materials and have yet to identify a clear motive.
After first calling the shooter female, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said police “feel that [Hale] identifies as trans,” and social media profiles for the shooter show Hale using he/him pronouns. Hale’s gender identity has not been otherwise confirmed. Police appear to have initially mistakenly identified Hale as a transgender woman.
This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.