Heavily Armed Assailant Kills 6 in Nashville

Three 9-Year-olds Are Among the Dead at a Christian School

NASHVILLE — A 28-yearold from Nashville fatally shot three children and three adults on Monday at a private Christian elementary school, officials said, leaving behind writings and detailed maps of the school and its security protocols.

In the latest episode of gun violence that has devastated American families and communities, the assailant opened fire just after 10 a.m. inside the Covenant School, in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood, where children in preschool through sixth grade had just begun their final full week of classes before Easter break.

The shooter, whom the police identified as Audrey E. Hale, had entered the building by firing through a side door, armed with two assault-style weapons and a handgun, according to John Drake, the chief of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, and went to the second floor, firing shots before being killed by the police. Drake said that the assailant was “at one point a student” at the school.

There was confusion about the gender identity of the assailant in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Drake said Hale identified as transgender. Officials used “she” and “her” to refer to the shooter, but, according to a social media post and a Linkedin profile, the shooter appeared to identify as male in recent months.

The police in Nashville identified the six victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9, and the adults as Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher; Mike Hill, 61, a custodian; and Katherine Koonce, 60. Koonce was the head of school, according to the school website. Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, according to a biography published online by his former church in Dallas. Covenant Presbyterian is connected to the elementary school.

Drake said it was too early to discuss a possible motive for the shooting, though he confirmed that the attack was targeted.

The authorities were reviewing writings, and had made contact with the shooter’s father, Drake said.

“We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place,” he said. “There’s right now a theory that we may be able to talk about later but it’s not confirmed, so we’ll put that out as soon as we can.”