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Washington, D.C
3 children, 3 staff killed in shooting at Nashville church school; female shooter dead
By Terry Castleman,
2 hours ago
A shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville has left at least three children and three adult staff members dead, authorities said Monday.
The shooter, described by police as a 28-year-old woman from Nashville , also was killed. Authorities initially indicated the assailant was in her teens.
Don Aaron, a spokesman for the Metro Nashville Police Department, said a “female shooter was firing, the officers engaged her, she was fatally shot by responding police officers.”
The shooter was “armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun,” Aaron said.
Authorities were working to identify her and whether she had a connection to the school.
The Nashville Fire Department initially said in a tweet there were “multiple patients” after an ” active aggressor ” at the Covenant School. The school, which serves about 200 students in preschool through sixth grade, according to its website, is part of Covenant Presbyterian Church .
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said that his city “joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting.”
My heart goes out to the families of the victims, he said in a tweet . “Our entire city stands with you.”
The killings come as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas , last year; a first-grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.
The Nashville victims were pronounced dead upon arrival at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital, according to Craig Boerner, a spokesperson for Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
In a Tuesday news conference, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said President Biden had been briefed and was in touch with federal and local officials involved in the shooting.
Jean-Pierre called on Congress to pass the assault weapons ban.
“The president has been very clear,” she said. “We need to take more action.”
Jean-Pierre noted that Biden earlier this month signed an executive order aimed at curbing gun violence in the wake of the deadly Monterey Park shooting . But, she said, further action from Congress is needed to create more robust gun control to help ensure these shootings stop.
“We can’t keep seeing what we saw today,” she added. “This cannot be happening. Our administrators, our educators … their lives can’t be put on the line here when they’re going to teach our kids.”
First Lady Jill Biden, who was speaking before a conference in Washington, D.C., said news of the shooting left her “without words.”
“Our children deserve better,” the first lady said . “We stand — all of us — with Nashville in prayer.”
Times staff writers Alexandra E. Petri and Erin Logan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
