Sandy MaloneNashville, TN – Three grade-school children and two adults were pronounced dead at Vanderbilt University Medical Center after a teenage girl opened fire at a private Christian grade school in Nashville on Monday morning.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said officers responded to the private grade school located in the Covenant Presbyterian Church on Burton Hills Boulevard in Nashville for an “active shooter” at about 10:15 a.m. on March 27, The New York Times reported.
Law enforcement officers immediately engaged the shooter and fatally shot her, according to police.
“Officers went to the gunfire. When they got to the second floor and saw the shooter, a female. There was a five-member unit that was on the second floor at the time,” MNPD spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters at a briefing, according to WTVF.
“We know at this point that this shooter is a female and appears to be in her teens, and her identification isn’t confirmed,” Aaron continued.
“She had two assault rifles and a handgun,” the police spokesperson said. “She entered the school through a side entrance and went from the first school to the second floor. By 10:27 a.m., the shooter was dead.”
Aaron said the armed teenage girl shot three children and two adults before officers killed her, WTVF reported.
He also said there were no Nashville police personnel assigned to the school at the time of the shooting.
Sources told WTVF that the school ran an active-shooter training on the campus last year.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center officials said the hospital had received three pediatric patients suffering from gunshot wounds.
“Three pediatric patients were transported to Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, all having suffered gunshot wounds. All three were pronounced dead after arrival,” hospital officials said in a statement, according to WTVF.
Officials said that two adults who had been transported to the emergency room were also pronounced dead, The New York Times reported.
The shooter was pronounced dead at the scene.
The hospital did not release any information about the ages of the victims or where they had been shot.
The Covenant School’s student body includes children from Preschool through 6th Grade, according to the school’s website.
It has about 33 teachers and as many as 210 children in the student body, according to The New York Times.
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have responded to the scene to assist MNPD, WTVF reported.
Officials have not yet released any information about the identity of the shooter or their motive.
The city has moved quickly to set up resources for the students and families, WTVF reported.
“We have mental health professionals at the reunification site,” Nashville Fire Department spokesperson Kendra Looney said. “There is a hotline for parents to call that is being set up.”
An active shooter event has taken place at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, on Burton Hills Dr. The shooter was engaged by MNPD and is dead. Student reunification with parents is at Woodmont Baptist Church, 2100 Woodmont Blvd. pic.twitter.com/vO8p9cj3vx
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 27, 2023
Lines on police cruisers sit near the scene of the active shooter situation at the Covenant school at the Covenant Presbyterian Church here in Nashville. Students are being bused to their parents. pic.twitter.com/r9vLzUjFQR
— Kelsey Gibbs (@kelseymgibbs) March 27, 2023
NEWS ALERT: At the request of District Attorney General Glenn Funk, TBI special agents and additional personnel are responding to the scene of this morning’s school shooting in Green Hills.
As indicated by @MNPDNashville, there is no current threat to public safety. pic.twitter.com/e9MgJFkaax
— Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (@TBInvestigation) March 27, 2023
I am closely monitoring the tragic situation at Covenant, & the @TNDeptofSafety & @TNHighwayPatrol are assisting local law enforcement & first responders at the scene.
As we continue to respond, please join us in praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community.
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) March 27, 2023
Nashville School Shooting: Maren Morris, Jessie James Decker & More Stars Mourn Students Killed After three children were killed at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, stars like Maren Morris and more mourned the loss of the innocents slain in another mass… pic.twitter.com/8XOM9uDH2D
— Soulwell Publishing Group® (@SoulwellPublish) March 27, 2023
This is a developing story and we will keep you updated. For all of our updates, follow us on Facebook and go to your news feed preferences under your settings, then select that you want to see more of The Police Tribune’s posts in your news feed. Otherwise, Facebook may not show you updates.
Holly Matkin
