Three children and three adults have died in the shooting that took place this Monday at a private Presbyterian Christian school in Nashville, in the state of Tennessee, in the United States. The adults were part of the center’s staff and, like the minors, had gunshot wounds.
As reported by Don Aaron, spokesman for the Nashville police, among the dead is also the assailant, who was carrying two assault rifles and a pistol. Although he initially referred to her as “apparently a teenager”, subsequent checks have clarified that she is a 28-year-old woman whose relationship with the school is being investigated. She has lost her life in a confrontation in a lobby area with two of the first five agents who responded to the alarm calls.
The massacre has occurred at The Covenant School and numerous students have been taken, with their hands up and seeking refuge, to a nearby church where they are reunited with their families.
In the surroundings of the center, police with rifles, bulletproof vests and helmets have been seen in the parking lot and on the perimeter of the building. Helicopter footage has also shown officers examining a wooded area between the campus and a nearby highway.
The Covenant School is a Presbyterian school for about 200 students ranging in age from kindergarten to sixth grade, which is attended from about eleven years old. It was founded in 2001, according to the website. It is located in the thriving Green Hill neighborhood, just south of downtown Nashville, close to the city’s top universities.
So far this year, there have been at least 30 reported incidents involving firearms in schools in the United States, which have left eight dead and 23 injured, according to data from the organization Everytown for Gun Safety.
The White House has condemned the shooting and stressed that Congress must act to toughen assault weapons legislation. “We must do more. (The president, Joe Biden) wants Congress to act. Enough is enough,” said the spokeswoman for the US Presidency, Karine Jean-Pierre, at a press conference.
Jean-Pierre has pointed out that Biden has been informed about the situation, prays for the affected families and appreciates the response offered so far by the emergency teams.
“While we don’t yet know all the details of this latest tragic shooting, we do know that all too often our schools and communities are devastated by gun violence,” the spokeswoman added.
Jean-Pierre stressed that although Biden has been the president who has done the most to increase control over firearms, “it is not enough and more must be done.”
“We need to ban assault weapons, take more steps to keep our kids safe in school so our communities aren’t torn apart. (…) This can’t happen. Educators can’t put their lives on the line when They go to work,” he added.
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