AT least six people, including three children, are dead following a mass shooting at an elementary school in Nashville.
Suspect Audrey Hale, 28, armed with two assault-type rifles and a handgun, opened fire on the second floor of The Covenant School in the Green Hills neighborhood in Tennessee, where she was a former student, on Monday morning.
Calls of an active shooter incident were phoned into the Metro Nashville Police Department at around 10.13am.
Responding officers arrived swiftly, entering the school's first floor and immediately heard gunshots on the second floor.
"Officers went to the gunfire. When they got to the second floor and saw the shooter, a female," Metro Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron said at a press conference.
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A five-member unit "engaged" with Hale - who police say identified as a Transgender - in a lobby area of the second floor and took her down by 10.27am.
Students were quickly evacuated into a wooded area and fire hall as the shots rang out. MNPD Chief John Drake said.
Police initially described Hale as being in her teens, however, they later confirmed the woman was a 28-year-old Nashville resident.
Authorities said Hale gained access to the elementary school after shooting through one of the academy doors.
Chief Drake said Hale targeted the school, possessed multiple rounds of ammunition, and was "prepared to engage with law enforcement."
Three children and three adults were pronounced dead from gunshot wounds at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, a hospital spokesperson confirmed.
The victims were identified as students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, and staff members Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
Dr. Koonce was the Head of School for nearly seven years, according to her profile.
A Metro Nashville police officer suffered a non-life-threatening hand injury in the incident.
"I was literally moved to tears to see this as the kids were being ushered out of the building," Drake said.
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"It could have been far worse," he continued.
"My heart and prayers go out to the families of the six people who were tragically injured."
Police were seen executing a search warrant at Hale's home in the Belmont area.
Chief Drake said Hale drew detailed maps of the school's entry points and conducted surveillance prior to the shooting.
"We have a manifesto... and a map of how all of this was going to play out," he said at an afternoon press conference.
The Covenant School is a private Christian institution serving Pre-K through 6th-grade students in Nashville.
The school has about 209 students and about 40 to 50 staff members, officials said.
Student reunification with parents has been set up at Woodmont Baptist Church, police said.
Hillsboro High School, Julia Green Elementary and Percy Priest Elementary were placed on lockout as a precaution until police clear the area.
First lady Jill Biden briefly addressed the shooting at the top of her remarks at Monday's National League of Cities conference.
"I am truly without words. Our children deserve better," she said.
President Joe Biden called the shooting "heartbreaking, and a family's worst nightmare."
"It's sick, you know, we're still gathering the fact of what happened and why. And we do know that as of now, there were a number of people that did not make it, including children," Biden said while speaking at Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Summit.
"It's ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation."
Biden called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, saying we "need to do more to protect our schools.
“It's about time we began to make some more progress," he said.
