Authorities in Nashville released audio of the 911 calls that came in after a 28-year-old woman shot her way into the Covenant School Monday morning and murdered three adults and three 9-year-old children.
A man called 911 as he was with a group of people, including children, walking away from the school, but he sounded confused as multiple voices are heard talking over each other. A second man then told the dispatcher more specific details about what he witnessed.
“All I saw was a man holding an assault rifle shooting through the door. It was — he’s currently in the second grade hallway, upstairs” the second man said. “White man. With camouflage. He had a vest on and an assault rifle.”
A woman is then heard telling the dispatcher, “I heard about 10 [shots] and I left the building.”
Seconds before 10:13 a.m., a teacher called 911 and told the dispatcher that she thought she heard gunshots. The woman talked with the dispatcher in a hushed voice as she is heard comforting a crying child. “I want to go home,” the child said.
The teacher grew more panicked as she heard gunfire erupt, telling the dispatcher she was in the art room. “It sounds like somebody is shooting guns,” she said. The woman then told the dispatcher that there was a break in gunfire before more shots rang out.
“I’m hearing more shots. Please hurry,” she pleaded.
A man on the second floor of the building revealed where the shooter was. “I think we have a shooter at our church,” he said, adding, “I’m on the second floor in a room. I think the shooter is on the second floor.”
The female shooter, who identified as a man, was engaged by police on the second level of the school around 10:27 a.m., 14 minutes after the first call was made to police. Nashville Police Chief John Drake said the shooting was a “targeted attack.”
Bodycam footage from officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo showed a team of Nashville Metro police officers rushing through the Covenant School minutes after the shooter got into the building. Police reached the shooter on the second floor of the school building within minutes of arriving on the scene. Engelbert and Collazo were praised for their quick action as they directed their team of officers through the school building before locating the shooter and taking her out.
This is a developing story; check back in for updates.
