A shooter armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun killed three students and three staff at a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday morning, authorities said.
The suspect, identified by police as Audrey Hale, 28, of Nashville, had a detailed map of Covenant School, a school for students in preschool through sixth grade, and allegedly shot through the door to enter the school, according to police.
The children were identified by Nashville police as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9 years old. The dead adults were identified as Cynthia Peak, 61; Mike Hill, 61, and Katherine Koonce, 60, who is the head of the school, said the police.
Peak was a substitute teacher and Hill was a custodian, according to investigators.
The suspect was shot and killed by authorities in a lobby area on the second floor of the school about 14 minutes after the 911 call was placed, according to police.
Nashville Police Chief John Drake said the suspect was female and identified as transgender but did not immediately provide further details. A police spokesperson later told ABC News that the shooter was assigned female at birth but pointed to a social media account linked to the shooter that included the use of the pronouns he/she.
Drake also said authorities believe the suspect is a former student.
No one who was shot survived, officials said.
Drake said he was “literally moved to tears watching” the young students as they were “taken out of the building.”
The suspect was armed with at least two assault-type rifles and a handgun, officials said. At least two of the weapons were purchased legally, investigators said.
The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department on Monday night released images of the three weapons, as well as footage of the suspect driving up and parking in the building, allegedly shooting at the door and walking around inside the facility while holding a gun.
The suspect had a map “of how it was all going to happen,” and writings, according to Drake. It appears the shooting was a targeted attack, according to the chief.
Authorities said the suspect entered the school through a side entrance and went from the first floor to the second floor, firing several shots. It appeared all the doors were locked and the suspect was allegedly shot through a door, officials said.
The shooting was reported at 10:13 a.m. and the suspect was pronounced dead at 10:27 a.m., according to the police. The officers who killed the suspect were identified by the police as Rex Englebert, a four-year veteran of the force, and Michael Collazo, a nine-year veteran of the MNPD.
A car found near the school helped authorities identify the suspect, and authorities responded to the suspect’s home, Drake said.
Police later announced that they seized “a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other evidence” from the home.
In a statement Monday night, Covenant School said its community was “saddened.”
“We are saddened by the terrible loss and shocked to come out of the horror that destroyed our church and school,” the statement read, in part. “We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the healing process.”
Throughout the day and afternoon, students interacted with concerned parents. The families of the staff said they were shocked by the violence that took place.
Alex Apple told ABC News Live that his mother works at the school’s front desk, and she was in her car when she received an alert that said to stay in the area.
“He got out of his car, heard gunshots, so he fled,” he said.
The school has about 209 students and about 40 to 50 staff members, officials said. According to the police, the school does not have a school resource officer.
President Joe Biden called the shooting “a family’s worst nightmare.”
The president once again urged Congress to pass a ban on assault weapons, saying, “It’s time we start making more progress.” Biden ordered flags at half-staff through Friday to honor the victims.
First lady Jill Biden said on Monday, “I am truly speechless. Our children deserve better.”
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee tweeted that he was “closely monitoring the dire situation.”
“Please join us in praying for the school, congregation and community in Nashville,” Lee said.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper thanked first responders for their swift action and called on Nashville residents to come together and work together.
“In this dark hour we will support each other,” he told a news conference.
Tennessee State Rep. Bo Mitchell spoke to Linsey Davis on ABC News Live Prime on Monday night, saying: “My two teenage boys left, and with every expectation, I expect them to come home in the afternoon. We have three parents tonight; their children didn’t make it home today and it’s sad.”
Mitchell said he spent hours with the students’ parents on Monday, who he and his colleagues want to take action.
“No single parent has asked for my thoughts or prayers,” she said. “They asked me and my colleagues to have courage and do something about it.”
Several parents took to social media after the shooting at Covenant School to express their frustration at yet another shooting.
Kimberly Garcia, who lost her daughter, Amerie Jo Garza, in the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Tweet“When is enough going to be enough?”
“6 more innocent lives STOLEN? But these aren’t the right guns? Wake up people,” he wrote.
Lives Robbed, a group made up of some of the Uvalde victims’ families advocating for changes to gun laws across the country, also tweeted their support for the Nashville families who lost loved ones on Monday.
“We are with you. This is why we are fighting for change,” the group tweeted.
ABC News’ Alex Faul, Molly Nagle, James Hill and Ben Gittleson contributed to this report.