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The Nashville community has come together to build a memorial outside The Covenant School to honor the lives of the three students and three employees killed in Monday's mass shooting.
On Monday morning, 28-year-old Audrey Hale entered the private Christian school armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun, killing six people inside the building before being shot dead by police responding to the attack. Nashville police have identified the victims as 9-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and WIlliam Kinney, as well as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
Flowers, signs and crosses were set up outside The Covenant School's entrance Monday night, and mourners continued to pay their respects at the site Tuesday.
Chad Scruggs, Hallie's father, is senior pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church, which houses the elementary school. Scruggs shared a one-line statement to reporters Tuesday morning, saying, "Through tears we trust that she is in the arms of Jesus who will raise her to life once again."
The Dieckhaus family said in a statement that their "hearts are completely broken" over Monday's tragedy, according to a report from ABC News.
"We cannot believe this has happened," the statement continued. "Evelyn was a shining light in this world. We appreciate all the love and support but ask for space as we grieve."
Koonce was headmaster of The Covenant School. According to a report from the BBC, a school parent described Koonce as a "saint."
"She knew every single student by name," the parent, who has two kids enrolled at Covenant, told the outlet. "She did everything to help them when families couldn't afford things, it didn't matter. She found ways for them to stay."
Hill was a custodian at the school and, according to a Facebook post from his daughter Brittany, it was "a job that everyone knows he absolutely loved."
"I have watched school shootings happen over the years and never thought I would lose a loved one over a person trying to solve a temporary problem with a permanent solution," Brittany Hill wrote. "I will not say her name because I will not glorify her actions. I wish the media would not say her name ever again."
Peak was working as a substitute teacher on the day of the shooting, according to Nashville police.
John Drake, Nashville police chief, said that Hale, a former student at the school, had planned to attack "multiple" locations at Covenant in a manifesto that was recovered by police. Drake also said that it does not appear Hale specifically targeted any of the victims individually.
The Covenant School shared a statement on its Facebook page Tuesday: "Our community is heartbroken. We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing."
The school has also asked for "privacy as our community grapples with this terrible tragedy—for our students, parents, faculty and staff."
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more