Nashville Mourns Six Lives Lost in Heartbreaking School Shooting, Community Gathers to Grieve and Seek Answers

Nashville residents gathered for a vigil on Wednesday to grieve and remember the three 9-year-old children and three adults whose lives were tragically cut short in a mass shooting at a private Christian school. First Lady Jill Biden attended the event, where community members offered prayers and paid tribute to the victims. Singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow also performed her song "I Shall Believe" for the emotional crowd.

Mayor John Cooper addressed the citywide vigil, saying, "Just two days ago was our worst day. Our heart is broken. Our city united as we mourn together." He encouraged community members to join hands in solidarity. Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake spoke about the school shooting at The Covenant School, which officers have prepared for but hoped would never occur.

Drake shared the emotional toll the tragedy has taken on law enforcement, stating, "Our police officers have cried and are crying with Nashville and the world. I have cried and continue to cry and I have prayed for Nashville as well." He expressed gratitude to the officers who entered the building and the first responders who provided emergency care to the victims.

As the community grapples with the devastating event, police continue to search for answers. They are trying to determine why 28-year-old Audrey Hale entered the school and took the lives of three children and three adults. So far, no specific problems or issues have been identified in the attacker's past, with Drake telling CNN on Wednesday, "As of right now, we don't have any indication there was any problems at the school or at home. We can't confirm any type of problems at this time."

The shooting spree at Covenant School lasted approximately 14 minutes before Hale was shot and killed by police. The victims included three 9-year-olds, a custodian, a substitute teacher, and the school's head. The incident is the 19th shooting at a school or university in the past three months, with at least one person injured, according to a CNN count. It was also the deadliest US school shooting since last May's massacre in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed 21 lives.

Nashville City Councilman Russ Pulley shared that a witness told him the school's head, Katherine Koonce, attempted to protect the children during the attack. Koonce had been proactive about training staff on how to respond during an active shooter situation. Brink Fidler, who conducted the active shooter training at the school, stated that all victims who were struck by gunfire had been in an open area or hallway, and that "several were able to evacuate safely." Fidler credited the teachers with knowing exactly what to do to protect their students, saying, "The only victims this shooter was able to get to were victims that were stuck in some sort of open area or hallway."