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– Authorities on Tuesday released intense police body camera footage from a deadly shooting rampage at a local Christian school as details emerged about the three students and three staffers who were killed in the carnage.
The Covenant School students who died were all 9 years old, and the staffers were in their 60s. The shooter was killed by police.
Police released more than two minutes of surveillance footage late Monday. On Tuesday, several minutes of body camera video from officers who encountered the shooter were released.
The body camera footage shows officers arriving a the school, announcing « Metro Police » as they enter the school and some of the classrooms, rifles raised.
« It sounds like it’s upstairs, » an officer says as they ascend the steps to the sound of gunfire above. The video ends with the confrontation in an upstairs lobby area, several shots fired the attacker apparently down and officers yelling « get your hand away from the gun. »
The attack was the nation’s 129th mass shooting of 2023, according to Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit that tracks gun violence data. The assault also marks the 89th shooting on K-12 school grounds in 2023 – an average of one every day – according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
« While I cannot comment on the ongoing nature of the investigation, I’m really impressed with the work that’s being done by law enforcement, » Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said. « This is the ultimate crime when school children and caregivers are the victims of senseless gun violence. »
‘IT WAS TRULY HORRIFIC’: Nashville mourns after mass shooting
Police identified the student victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9. The staffers were Katherine Koonce, 60, identified on the Covenant website as « head of school; » substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61; and custodian Mike Hill, 61.
Hallie was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, who is the lead pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church, according to a statement from his former church in Dallas.
“We love the Scruggs family and mourn with them over their precious daughter Hallie, » Mark Davis, senior pastor at Park Cities Presbyterian Church, said in a statement. « Together, we trust in the power of Christ to draw near and give us the comfort and hope we desperately need.
