Nashville shooting victims include 9-year-olds, school principal

Police identified the three children and three adults who died in a mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville’s Green Hills neighborhood Monday morning.

Authorities identified the children as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9, and the adults as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60 and Mike Hill, 61.

The Nashville Presbytery confirmed to CBS News that 9-year-old Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the senior pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

All three adults worked at the school. Hill worked as a janitor, authorities identified Peak as a substitute teacher and Koonce is listed as the school’s principal on the school’s list. website.

Police identified the shooter as a former student of the school: Audrey Hale, 28, of Nashville. They said the shooter was armed with “at least” two assault rifles and a handgun during the attack.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake confirmed Monday afternoon that the three children have been identified and their families have been contacted.

Police said their preliminary investigation indicates the shooter was at one time a student at the school, Drake said, but it was unclear when they may have been in attendance.

Covenant, founded in 2001, is a private Christian school with 33 teachers and up to 210 students from preschool to sixth grade, according to the school website.

He shooter entered Covenant school through a side door and through the building, moving from the first floor to the second floor and “firing multiple shots,” Metropolitan Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said.

Responding officers saw the shooter firing on the second level, and at that point, “they engaged,” Aaron said. The shooter was fatally shot by two of the five police officers who responded on the scene, he said.