A 28-year-old female killed at least three children and three adults Monday inside a Nashville Christian school before police fatally shot her, officials said.
The shooter, a white 28-year-old Nashville woman who identified as a man according to police, was engaged by police at the Covenant School around 10:27 a.m., 14 minutes after the first call was made to police, Nashville authorities said in a press conference. Nashville Police Chief John Drake said the shooting was a “targeted attack.”
“The police department response was swift,” a police official said at a press conference outside the school. “Officers entered the first story of the school and began clearing it. They heard shots coming from the second level and they went toward the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her, she was fatally shot by responding police officers. ”
Metro Nashville Police identified the shooter as 28-year-old woman hours after the attack. During the press conference, an official said the shooter was “armed with two assault-type rifles and a handgun.” Authorities believe the shooter was a former student at the Covenant School. She was taken out by two Metro Nashville Police Department officers.
Some footage of the massive police response to the Covenant school shooting this morning here in Nashville. pic.twitter.com/TMmmwF9tfP
— Tim Meads (@TimMeadsUSA) March 27, 2023
On Monday afternoon, local authorities along with the FBI searched the home of the female shooter, whom the Daily Wire will not name in accordance with company policy. During the search, law enforcement said they found “a manifesto” along with maps of the school drawn in detail that included points of entry. The police chief said authorities have a theory on the shooter’s motive, but they are not ready to share it yet.
Police and FBI agents are currently conducting a raid of the address associated with the Nashville shooting suspect. pic.twitter.com/uuXo4Potvx
— Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) March 27, 2023
Vanderbilt University Medical Center spokesperson John Howser said that the three children who were shot were all “pronounced dead after arrival.”
Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) tweeted that he is closely monitoring the “tragic situation at Covenant.”
“As we continue to respond, please join us in praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community,” Lee said.
The Covenant School is a private Presbyterian school in Nashville’s posh Green Hills neighborhood that educates children from preschool through sixth grade. According to the school’s website, it enrolls between 195 and 210 students.
This is a developing story; check back for updates.