Experts Say Teachers’ Quick Thinking Saved Lives

() — As more details emerge about how a deadly mass shooting unfolded inside a private Christian school in Nashville, a former police officer who provided active shooter training at the school said quick actions by teachers who locked down classrooms helped save lifes.

The person who entered the Covenant School this Monday fired multiple times into several classrooms, but did not hit any students inside them, “because the teachers knew exactly what to do, how to fortify their doors and where to put the children in those classrooms.” security consultant Brink Fidler told .

“Their ability to literally execute flawlessly under that amount of stress while someone was trying to murder them and the children, that’s what made the difference here,” Fidler said. “These teachers are the reason those children came home to their families,” she added.

Six people were killed in the Monday morning shooting, including three 9-year-old students: Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs. The adults killed were Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher; Katherine Koonce, 60, director of the school; and Mike Hill, 61, a janitor, police said.

All of the victims who were shot were in an open area or in a hallway, said Fidler, who toured the school with authorities Wednesday.

“The only victims this attacker was able to reach were victims who were trapped in some type of open area or hallway,” Fidler said. “Several were able to evacuate safely. Those who couldn’t safely did exactly what they were taught and trained to do.”

Although the shooter was targeting the school, the victims are believed to have been shot at random, police said.

Credit for saving lives is also credited to officers who rushed into the school and fatally shot the attacker, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, ending the 14-minute terror that raged at the school.

“We had heroic officers put themselves in harm’s way to stop this and we could have been talking about more tragedy than we are,” Drake told on Wednesday.

The law enforcement response in Nashville contrasts with the response in Uvalde, Texas, where there was a delay of more than an hour before authorities confronted and killed the assailant. The attack in Uvalde left 21 dead.

Monday’s shooting in Nashville was the deadliest at a US school since the Uvalde massacre last May. It also marked the 19th shooting at a school or university in just the past three months that left at least one person injured, according to a tally.

A Nashville councilman also testified that a witness told him that Koonce, the principal of the Covenant School, spent her last moments trying to protect the children in her care.

“The witness said that Katherine Koonce was on a Zoom call, heard the gunshots, and abruptly ended the call and left the office. The assumption from there is that she headed toward the shooter,” Councilman Russ Pulley said. He did not identify the witness.

Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said he cannot confirm how Koonce died, but said: “I know she was alone in the hallway. I’m sure there was a confrontation. You can tell by the way she’s lying in the hallway”.

Fidler said Koonce had been adamant about training school staff on how to respond during an active shooter situation.

“She understood the gravity of the issue and the gravity of teachers having to know what to do in that situation,” he said.

Koonce and the other victims were honored at a vigil held Wednesday throughout the city of Nashville, where residents gathered to pray and mourn.

“It’s a tragedy that we all feel deeply,” said Eliza Hughes, a Nashville resident. “Nashville is a very close community. We definitely feel the tragedy. It’s a horrible situation.”

The FBI and the Police trace the writings and maps of the attacker

After the shooting, police discovered that Hale had detailed maps of the Covenan School, which he had attended as a child, and “quite a few” writings related to the shooting, according to the police chief.

The FBI, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and police examined the maps and writings Hale left behind, including a notebook, Drake said.

Authorities called the attack “calculated,” and Drake said Wednesday that the maps “showed the entrance to the school, a route that would be taken for whatever was going to be done.”

The shooter is also believed to have had weapons training and had arrived at the school heavily armed and prepared for a confrontation with law enforcement, police said.

But as details of the pre-planning become known, it remains unclear what motivated the attack. Drake said police met with the school and found no indication that Hale was in trouble while he was attending the school.

Hale had been in care for an emotional disorder and legally purchased seven guns in the last three years, but they were kept hidden from Hale’s parents, Drake said. Three of the weapons, including an AR-15 rifle, were used in the attack on Monday.

Tennessee does not have a “red flag” law that would allow a judge to temporarily seize the guns of someone believed to be a threat to himself or others.

The police chief said law enforcement had not previously been contacted regarding the shooter, and that Hale was never committed to an institution.

Hale’s childhood friend, Averianna Patton, told Tuesday that the killer sent her disturbing messages minutes before the attack, saying “I’m planning to die today” and that it would be on the news.

Patton called the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office in Nashville but was on hold for “about 7 minutes,” he said. By then, the shooting had already started.

Asked about the messages, Drake told : “If the chronology is correct, the call was received when the agent had already arrived at the scene. So it has nothing to do with it.”

“At the time we got the call, we immediately responded to the scene. The officers pulled over, they were being shot at, they drew their gun, they went in, they didn’t wait,” Drake said.

The assailant entered the school by shooting at the glass doors and climbing over them to gain access inside, surveillance video shows. The first call about the shooting was received at 10:13 a.m., and police arrived at the scene at 10:24 a.m., according to the police chief.

Body camera recordings of the first officers on the scene show them rushing inside and clearing the classrooms before running to the second floor of the school, where an officer armed with an assault rifle fires multiple rounds. to the attacker, who died at 10:27 a.m., according to the Police.

Police have referred to Hale as a “female shooter” and later said Hale was transgender. Hale used male pronouns in a social media profile, a spokesperson told when asked for clarification.

our heart is broken

Nashville residents gathered for a citywide vigil Wednesday to mourn the victims, pray and share in grief.

First Lady Jill Biden attended the event, as did singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow, who performed her song “I Shall Believe” before the grieving crowd.

“Nashville has had the worst of it today,” Mayor John Cooper told the crowd. “Our hearts are broken. Our city united as we mourn together.”

The police chief also addressed the community, saying a school shooting like the one officers faced at Covenant School Monday is a moment officers have trained for but hoped would never come.

“Our police officers have cried and cry with Nashville and with the world,” Drake said.

First Lady Jill Biden at the Nashville Remembers candlelight vigil on Wednesday.

While the community mourns, families mourn the loss of their loved ones in the shooting.

William, one of the children killed, had an “unflappable spirit,” friends of the Kinney family shared on GoFundMe.

Hallie’s aunt Kara Arnold said the 9-year-old had “a love of life that kept her smiling and running and jumping and playing and always on the go.”

Evelyn’s family called her “a shining light in this world.”

The family of Hill, the father of seven children and grandfather of 14, recalled his love of cooking and spending time with his family.

“Violence visited our city and brought anguish and pain. In the midst of sadness, we continue to search for hope,” said Tennessee Representative the Rev. Harold M. Love, Jr., ending the vigil with a prayer.

‘s Jamiel Lynch contributed to this report.