Several shots smash the windows of a Nasville school and moments later a woman enters, armed and ready to commit a massacre.
These are the shocking images released by the police that show the start of the shooting that resulted in six deaths: three children and three adults. The attacker, identified as Audrey Hale, 28, was shot dead by police. She is said that she had studied at school.
The shooting followed scenes that are too often the unfortunate hallmark of news in the United States: police, ambulances, children in shock, distraught parents… and many unanswered questions.
President Joe Biden, in a speech at the White House on Monday, called the shooting “a family’s worst nightmare” and again implored Congress to pass a ban on certain semi-automatic weapons.
“He’s tearing at the soul of this nation, tearing at the very soul of this nation,” Biden said, referring to the regularity of mass shootings in the country.
The reasons for the shooting remain unclear, but it has been established that the attacker had carefully planned the assault, drawing up a detailed map and monitoring the building, according to police.
The school, private and Christian, welcomes about 200 students from preschool to sixth grade. The community is shocked.
“Our community is heartbroken,” a statement from the school reads. “We are grieving the tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that tore apart our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the healing process.”
Throughout the country, flags will fly at half mast at official buildings until March 31.