Teacher's daughter says children hid in classroom as Nashville shooting started

The daughter of one of the teachers at the private school where three nine-year-old children and three staff members were fatally shot Monday said her mother hid out in a closet with her students.

Six people – including three children – are dead after transgender female shooter Audrey Hale opened fire at Covenant Presbyterian School in Nashville.

Avery Myrick, whose mother has been a pre-K teacher there for over a decade, said she was unsure if her mother was safe.

Myrick eventually received the call that she had gotten out alive and detailed how she and her students were hiding out from the 28-year-old shooter Hale.

‘She said they were hiding in the closet, and there was shooting all over,’ Myrick said. ‘[She said] they had potentially tried to get into her room.’

Avery Myrick (pictured), whose mother has been a pre-K teacher at Covenant Presbyterian School for over a decade, said she was unsure if her mother was safe

Myrick told WSMV that she was heartbroken for people who hadn’t gotten the same call she did to tell her that her mother was safe.

At around 10.13am, Hale opened fire at The Covenant School, shooting and killing nine-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.

Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the pastor at the affiliated presbyterian church.

Substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, head of school Dr. Katherine Koonce, 60, and custodian Mike Hill, 61, were also killed.

It’s unclear what Hale’s motive was, but police believe she attended the school at some point. She had detailed, drawn maps of the school and had been surveilling it, according to police.

‘We have a manifesto, we have some writings. We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place,’ Nashville Police John Chief Drake said.

The small school is run by a church and does not employ a school resource officer.

Shortly before 10.13am, the woman entered the school by shooting through a locked side door and began opening fire on the second floor.

Myrick told WSMV that she was heartbroken for people who hadn’t gotten the same call she did to tell her that her mother was safe

Hallie Scruggs is seen with her father Chad Scruggs, the pastor at the presbyterian church affiliated with the school

Substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, aka Cindy Broyles Peak, is shown with her daughter Ellie. Peak was one of six people shot to death at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee on March 27, 2023

Audrey Hale, 28, opened fire at a Nashville school on Monday, killing six

Hale’s LinkedIn profile suggested they were now living as a man

A terrified child presses her hand against the glass of a school bus window after being evacuated from The Covenant School

Children hold hands as they leave The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday after a female shooter opened fire, killing three kids and three staff members

Terrified children peer out the windows of their school bus as they wait to be driven away from the school after the shooting

Children from The Covenant School run past an ambulance on Monday after a female shooter opened fire, killing three staff members and three students, before being shot by police

Police arrived at the scene and heard the gunshots coming from the 2nd floor.

By 10.27am, she had been shot dead. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.

Cops said Hale was transgender, although they haven’t specified further details and referred to her as a woman. Hale was born female, but a LinkedIn profile believed to be hers uses he/him pronouns, suggesting Hale was living as a man.

‘I know this is probably the worst day of everyone’s lives. I can’t tell you how sympathetic we are,’ a Metro Police officer was heard telling the parents as they waited at a nearby church for updates.

Neighbors of the school watched as parents frantically rushed to the scene to find their children.

‘Everyone as a parent are terrified.

Parents collect their children from The Covenant School in Nashville on Monday

Parents collect their children from The Covenant School in Nashville on Monday

A family prays together after being reunited outside The Covenant School in Nashville

A man carries a child at the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church after a school shooting, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville

A man walks with children at a reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at The Covenant School

Adults walk with a child at a reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist Church

Adults walk with a child at a reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist Church after the shooting

A man takes two children home from The Covenant School after Monday’s shooting

Two adults escort terrified kids away from the Covenant School on Monday after a school shooting

Children and adults wait outside The Covenant School in Nashville following the shooting

Parents gathered in the sanctuary waiting for updates on whether or not their children were among those harmed

A police officer walks by an entrance to The Covenant School after a shooting in Nashville

Terrified children hold hands as they leave The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday after a shooter opened fire, killing three children, before being shot dead by police

A woman holds her young child after a school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville on Monday. Three children were killed by the woman

‘You don’t send you kid to school thinking there would be an active shooting, especially in this area.

‘Just hearing as a parent myself it’s truly overwhelming. Seeing all the parents run up the hill to see if their children are okay,’ Lisa Debusk told DailyMail.com.

Susan Perkins, 68, told DailyMail.com that her daughter and step-grandson were in the school at the time of the shooting, and unhurt.

Her daughter is a communications director and her step-grandson is a sixth grade student.

‘I talked to my daughter and she was so busy she just couldn’t talk, just enough to say she was okay,’ said the mother, who lives in Knoxville, TN.

‘I’m just shaking with fear and so sorry that this happened,’ she said. ‘I just can’t hardly believe that three children got killed.’

She described Covenant School as a small, tightknit, Christian school where everyone knows and supports each other.

‘I did not think it would ever hap to my school and I would like to see the guns off the street,’ Perkins said.

Terrified parents wait for their kids at The Covenant School in Nashville. The woman was killed by police

Parents rushed to the scene to collect their children after the incident on Monday morning

Children pour out of The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday

Metro Nashville Police officers gather near The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., following a deadly shooting Monday, March 27, 2023

Alison Grippo, 40, told DailyMail.com that she has three children in Covenant School who survived.

As word spread of the mass shooting, she like other parents were directed to nearby Woodmont Baptist Church, set up as a meeting point as they anxiously waited for their kids.

‘She said her own children, like many others, were still speaking with investigators.

‘We’re waiting to be reunited with our kids,’ Grippo told DailyMail.com. ‘This is just hard to understand or put into words. We praise God in all situations, good and bad.’

There are around 33 staff members in the school and some 210 students.

Many of those students were seen running from the building today in their school uniforms after the shooting began.

Other schools in the area have gone into lockdown as a precaution, but there is not thought to be any additional threat.

Parents are now gathering at a church next to the school.

Tim Dunavant, a pastor at Harstville First United Methodist Church, said he hired Hill to work at the school over a decade ago.

‘He was the last employee that I hired when I ran the kitchen at the Covenant church and school,’ said Dunavant.

‘That was over 13 years ago. He was still working there today when he was shot and killed.

‘I don’t know the details yet. But I have a feeling, when it all comes out, Mike’s sacrifice saved lives.

‘I have nothing factual to base that upon. I just know what kind of guy he was. And I know he’s the kind of guy that would do that.’

He added: ‘Goodbye Mike, I’m going to miss those encouraging texts out of the blue from you.’

The Scruggs family is pictured together. The youngest member, nine-year-old Hallie, was among the six victims

Hallie Scruggs is seen with her three brothers and her parents, Chad and Jada

The Scruggs family on vacation. Chad Scruggs and his sons were keen hunters, and his social media shows the family out hunting for wild turkey

Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn was among the first to share her condolences.

‘Chuck & I are heartbroken to hear about the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville.

‘My office is in contact with federal, state, & local officials, & we stand ready to assist.

Parents gather in the sanctuary of Woodmont Baptist Church in Nashville on Monday after a shooter opened fire, killing three students

‘Thank you to the first responders working on site. Please join us in prayer for those affected.’

Sen. Bill Haggerty tweeted: ‘Devastated and heartbroken about the tragic news at Covenant School.

‘I’m grateful to law enforcement and first responders for their heroic actions.’

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee tweeted: ‘I am closely monitoring the tragic situation at Covenant…as we continue to respond, please join us in praying for the school, congregation & Nashville community.’

At a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the shooting was proof the ongoing need for stricter gun reform.

First Lady Jill Biden, speaking at the National League of Cities conference on Monday, told the crowd: ‘We just learned about another shooting in Tennessee – a school shooting.

‘I am truly without words. Our children deserve better. We stand with Nashville in prayer.’

Monday’s shooting is the 129th shooting this year.

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