NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — More information continues to come in regarding the shooting at The Covenant School, including that of the shooter, who is now dead.
According to Metro Nashville Police Department Spokesman Don Aaron, the shooter was a young woman in her late 20s who was armed with at least two assault-style rifles and a handgun.
Police received the call of an active shooter at 10:13 a.m. When officers arrived on scene, they cleared the first floor and heard shots ring out on the second floor. Upon entry to the second floor, they engaged the shooter and fatally shot her there.
The responding officers on the second floor were part of a five-member team, according to Aaron. Two of those officers opened fire on the shooter.
While Aaron said the shooter “appears to be” in her teens, a positive identification has not yet been made.
According to Aaron, the shooter entered the school via a side entrance and made her way up to the second floor while “firing multiple shots.”
Aaron confirmed that three students were fatally wounded as well as three adults. MNPD is working to identify all six victims.
“By 10:27 the shooter was deceased,” he said in a press conference Monday morning.
Kendra Loney with Nashville Fire Department also spoke at the conference, detailing how NFD is dispatched for active shooter incidents as well as medical calls.
“Our crews were right there on the scene to provide medical aid to any survivors but also to be there for victims so that we could try life-saving efforts in this case,” she said.
NFD crews entered the building as soon as it was safe, Loney said, and were able to pull out those who had “viable signs of life,” including three children and two adults.
NFD then set up the reunification point at Woodmont Baptist Church at 2100 Woodmont Boulevard. All remaining students were able to be escorted out of the building by faculty and staff, Loney said.
Loney added NFD has mental health specialists and other professionals at the reunification site for students and families who need it.
The Office of Emergency Management provided buses to provide transport to the reunification site, including one that carried 74 students, faculty and staff members, and another that had 34 students, Loney said.
According to Aaron, a typical day at The Covenant School would see 209 students and approximately 42 staff members in attendance.
One officer reportedly sustained an injury from cut glass, but Aaron said he was not aware of any other injuries to officers.
The school did not have a School Resource Officer or School Safety Officer from Metro Nashville, according to Aaron, because it was a private school operated by a church.
