NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Huddled around the podium with dozens of leaders, Mayor John Cooper asked those in the crowd to take their hands and touch the shoulder of the person next to them.
The sun shone down late Wednesday afternoon as the city gathered for a vigil for The Covenant School shooting victims, with First Lady Jill Biden in attendance. A brown cross stood in the middle of Public Square park. The mass shooting happened Monday at the pre-k through sixth-grade school in Green Hills. Six victims died. Police shot the gunman, killing the shooter.
"I wish we didn't need to be here together," Mayor John Cooper. "Let us embrace their families, all of our families as we remember Evelyn, Hallie, William, Catherine, Cynthia, Mike. Nashville has had its worst today. Our city is united as we mourn together. Be there for one another. We can only be there together."
The crowd remained relatively silent. No one held their phones up to take photos of the musicians playing hymns and soft ballads to those who gathered. Margo Price, Sheryl Crow, and Ketch Secor serenaded those in attendance.
"Our hearts are heavy," MNPD Chief John Drake said. "Such sweet and kind persons from all we have heard. Many of us have hoped and prayed that this would never happen in Nashville, though members of our police and fire department have trained for years. We are grateful for those who rushed in that school building who stopped that threat before any more innocent victims were harmed. We are grateful for the police, firefighters, and paramedics who rushed to the victims to find emergency care. In an extreme tragedy and this is one, Nashville comes together like no other place. I have cried and I continue to cry for Nashville as well."
As the vigil wrapped up and most leaders walked away, state Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, took over the podium. He reminded Nashvillians of a rally happening at the state capitol at 8 a.m. Thursday morning before the Senate and House floor sessions.
"Prayers are good, but action is better," he said. "We are the only nation where this keeps happening. The governor wasn't here today. Hold him accountable."
On Monday, March 27, six people were shot and killed by a gunman at The Covenant School.
Police received the 911 call for the shooting at 10:13 a.m. Within 14 minutes, Metro Police were able to take down the shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale.
Hale gained access to the building through a side door that they shot through. From there, the shooter went upstairs and shot at police through the windows.
Two members of an officer team fired on Hale. Those two officers are officer Rex Englebert, a four-year MNPD veteran, and officer Michael Collazo, a nine-year MNPD veteran.
Who died in the shooting?
- Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9
- Hallie Scruggs, 9
- William Kinney, 9
- Cynthia Peak, 61
- Katherine Koonce, 60
- Mike Hill, age 61
The shooter was a 28-year-old Nashvillian who lived in the Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood.
