State Watch

Nashville police ID three 9-year-olds as victims in school shooting

A police crime scene tape is seen at the entrance to Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. Monday, March 27, 2023. Officials say several children were killed in a shooting at the private Christian grade school in Nashville. The suspect is dead after a confrontation with police.

Metro Nashville Police identified the six victims who died after a 28-year-old woman opened fire Monday in a private school in Nashville, Tennessee.

Nashville Police shared the names and ages of the victims of the shooting Monday, saying in a tweet that all three of the child victims were just 9 years old. The children, who died as a result of gunshot wounds, were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.

The adult staff members of the Covenant School who were shot and killed by the shooter, who carried assault-style weapons and a handgun, were identified as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61, according to police.

The shooter entered the school through a side entrance Monday morning, officials said. Law enforcement officials said they responded to a call about the shooting at 10:13 a.m. and cleared the first floor of the school. Shortly afterward, officers heard gunshots on the second floor, where they engaged with the shooter, who was shot and killed by the officers.

The shooter was dead by 10:27 a.m., police said.

President Biden said the shooting was “sick,” “heartbreaking” and “a family’s worst nightmare,” in remarks on Monday afternoon.

Updated at 10:07 a.m.