Police identify all six victims of devastating Nashville school shooting

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By stefan armitage

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Nashville police have named the six victims who were tragically killed during Monday morning's primary school shooting.

On March 27, the students and faculty of The Covenant School in Nashville - a private Christian elementary school - came under fire from a former student who had made their way onto the premises.

Police have since identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who arrived on school grounds in a silver Honda Fit, before blasting the glass panes of a side door in order to gain entry to the building.

Armed with three firearms, security footage shows Hale stalking the corridors of the school before unleashing on those inside.

The attack lasted approximately 14 minutes, per Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake. It came to an end when police located Hale on the second floor and fatally shot the assailant. The officers who fatally shot Hale have been named as Officer Rex Englebert and Officer Michael Collazo.

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Officers Englebert and Collazo. Credit: Metro Nashville Police Department.

Currently, police have revealed that six victims lost their lives as a result of the shooting - three students and three adults.

The Metro Nashville Police Department has since identified the victims as "Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, Cynthia Peak, age 61, Katherine Koonce, age 60, and Mike Hill, age 61."

Police say that although the attack on the school appears to have been calculated, none of the individual victims were targeted specifically by Hale.

BBC News reports that Dr. Katherine Koonce was the head of Covenant, with one mother - who has two children enrolled at the private school - describing her as a "saint".

"She did so much for those kids," the parent said. "And now gave her life protecting them."

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Katherine Koonce. Credit: The Covenant School

"She knew every single student by name [...] She did everything to help them when families couldn't afford things, it didn't matter. She found ways for them to stay," the mom added.

Another victim, Mike Hill, has been identified as one of the school's custodians.

The man who hired him 13 years ago, Tim Dunavant - who is a pastor at Harstville First United Methodist Church - has said that he will miss Hill's "encouraging texts out of the blue".

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Mike Hill. Credit: Covenant Presbyterian Church

Dunavant also said he wouldn't be surprised if it revealed that Hill sacrificed himself in order to save others, as "he's the kind of guy that would do that".

Police have also identified Cynthia Peak as a substitute teacher who just so happened to be working at The Covenant on the day of the tragedy.

According to the Tennessean newspaper, third-grader Evelyn Dieckhaus, who was remembered during a service at the Woodmont Christian Church hours after the attack. BBC News reports that her older sister said "I don't want to be an only child".

Nine-year-old victim Hallie Scruggs has been named as the daughter of Chad Scruggs, a senior pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church.

A statement from the church reads: "The Park Cities Presbyterian Church (PCPC) family is incredibly saddened by the unimaginable tragedy today at Covenant Presbyterian School in Nashville, TN. Covenant Presbyterian Church is a sister church of PCPC; many of our members have deep friendships and family connections there.

"Chad Scruggs, current Lead Pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville, served for several years as Associate Pastor at PCPC. PCPC Senior Pastor, Mark Davis shared, 'We love the Scruggs family and mourn with them over their precious daughter Hallie. Together, we trust in the power of Christ to draw near and give us the comfort and hope we desperately need.'"

William Kinney was a nine-year-old student enrolled at The Covenant School.

Our thoughts continue to go out to the victims' families and anybody affected by this tragedy.

Featured image credit: The Covenant School/Facebook/Covenant Presbyterian Church