Six Nashville shooting victims named including three nine-year-old students with female shooter killed

SIX school shooting victims, including three nine-year-olds, have been identified after a horrific massacre at a Nashville school.

The children and faculty members of The Covenant School were killed by a transgender former student who stormed the Tennessee campus on Monday with two assault rifles and a handgun.

Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all nine years old, died in the sick rampage.

The adult victims were identified as Cynthia Peak, Mike Hill, 61, and Katherine Koonce, 60.

Koonce was the head of The Covenant School, according to the school's website.

One of the other victims was a custodian while the other was a substitute teacher, police said.

Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville.

Cops identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Hale.

Metro Nashville police said Hale, a former student at the small private Christian academy, entered the elementary school through a side entrance at around 10.13am on Monday.

The suspect, armed with two assault-type rifles and a handgun, made their way to the school's second floor and opened fire.

Metro Nashville officers responded quickly to the scene and immediately heard gunfire on the second floor.

"Officers went to the gunfire. When they got to the second floor and saw the shooter, a female," Metro Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron said at a press conference.

A five-member unit "engaged" with Hale in a lobby area of the second floor and took down the suspect by 10.27am.

Police were seen executing a search warrant at Hale's home in the Belmont area.

MNPD Chief John Drake said Hale targeted the school and was in possession of multiple rounds of ammunition and was "prepared to engage with law enforcement."

Authorities said the shooter was armed with two “assault-style” weapons — a rifle and a pistol — as well as a handgun.

At least two of them were believed to have been obtained legally in the Nashville area, AP reports.

The suspect is also understood to have drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, as well as conducted surveillance before the killings were carried out.

Students were quickly evacuated into a wooded area and fire hall as the shots rang out, Chief John Drake said. 

"I was literally moved to tears to see this as the kids were being ushered out of the building," he added.

"It could have been far worse," he continued.

"My heart and prayers go out to the families of the six people who were tragically injured."

A Metro Nashville police officer suffered a non-life-threatening hand injury in the incident.

Monday’s tragedy unfolded over roughly 14 minutes. Police said they received the initial call about an active shooter at 10.13am.

Officers began clearing the first story of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the second level, police spokesperson Don Aaron said.

Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response, fatally shooting the suspect at 10.27 am, Aaron said.

He explained that there were no police officers at the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run facility.

Surviving students could be seen holding hands as they left the school for safety.

They were moved to a nearby church to be reunited with their parents.

President Joe Biden spoke out about the tragic killings at an unrelated event at the White House on Monday, calling the shooting a “family’s worst nightmare.”

Imploring Congress to pass a ban on certain semi-automatic weapons, he said: “It’s ripping at the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of this nation."