Nashville police have identified the six victims of the Covenant School shooting, who include the private Christian academy’s headmistress, a custodian and the young daughter of the school’s pastor.
Officials identified the three slain students as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9.
Little Hallie was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the senior pastor at the church that runs the school, the church confirmed to CBS News.
The three staff members killed were Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill, both 61, and school head Katherine Koonce, 60.
Hill worked as a custodian, police said.
Police said 28-year-old Audrey Hale, a former student and transgender woman, entered the school Monday morning, opening fire at the victims before police shot her dead.
Officers said she was equipped with at least two assault rifles and a handgun and had entered the school through a side door by shooting it out.
The community is in mourning over the tragedy that befell the small private school, which teaches students in pre-K through 6th grade and only has about 200 students enrolled, according to its website.
Koonce, an educator for more than 23 years, joined the school as the headmistress in 2016. Hill was identified as a custodian, and Peak was a substitute teacher.
The school focuses its curriculum on biblical theology, where students take classes about the Bible along with standard education courses. Its motto is “Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.”
Police said they received a call at 10:13 a.m. about an active shooter at the Covenant School, with officers rushing to the scene to clear the halls.
At the school, police heard gunshots on the second floor and rushed to a lobby-type area, where they confronted the shooter.
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A car was located near the Covenant School, where the 14-minute shooting spree took place Monday morning, and provided investigators clues as to the shooter’s identity, Metro Nashville Chief of Police John Drake said at a press conference.
Inside her family home, police said, they found maps and a manifesto of Hale’s plans, saying the attack was “targeted” as officials continue to unravel a motive.
Police said they are in contact with the suspect’s father and will release video about the shooting in the coming days.
