Nashville Covenant Elementary School Shooting horrifies nation

Sarah Goody
March 29, 2023

On Mon., March 27, three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at Covenant Elementary School in Nashville, Tennessee. Local law enforcement responded to an active shooter call at 10:13 a.m. on Monday and killed the shooter at approximately 10:25 a.m. The bodycam footage of two officers was released by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department on Tuesday, and the six-minute compilation of video footage has now been viewed by millions on news platforms and social media. 

From left to right the victims of the Covenant School Shooting: Katherine Koonce, Cynthia Peak, Halle Scruggs, Mike Hill, William Kinney and Evelyn Diekhaus. (Photo courtesy of WTX News)

According to a study published in the New York Times, gun violence isthe leading cause of death for children ages 1 through 18. The K-12 school shooting database has already recorded 89 gun-related incidents at schools in 2023, nearly one occurrence every day this year. The Covenant shooting is another painful and tragic reflection of gun violence in America and amplifies the ongoing debate about gun control in the U.S. The victims killed were Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9; Mike Hill, 61; William Kinney, 9; Katherine Koonce, 60; Cynthia Peak, 61; and Hallie Scruggs, 9.

Joe Stewart, a Redwood science teacher and father to three children, is horrified by the tragic shooting.

“It scares me that school shootings have become part of our culture and something we prepare for as an emergency, like we do an earthquake or a fire. For [school shootings] culturally to be part of something we have to worry about feels really awful,” Stewart said.

Community members mourn the lives of those lost to the Covenant School Shooting during a vigil on March 28. (Photo courtesy of the Associated Press)

Mr. Stewart is one of many Redwood teachers who find the events of Monday disturbing and emotional. When asked to comment, math teacher Heather Curtaz declined to interview because she would have “lots of expletives and crying.”

Senior Lucca DeFabio was amongst the millions of viewers who watched the bodycam footage of the shooting, which contained many graphic and disturbing images of the scene.

“The video felt dystopian. It was happening, but it didn’t feel real. It was so fear-inducing, more so because it could happen to any of us,” DeFabio said.

DeFabio is an older sister and fears for her younger siblings safety alongside her own safety.

“Any of us could be just [as] at risk as those students in Tennessee were… and that’s a terrifying reality to face.”