Pre-K students hid in closet as Nashville shooter went on killing rampage

Some of the youngest students at The Covenant School in Nashville huddled together in a closet Monday as a shooter who killed six people in the school building tried to break into their classroom.

A longtime pre-K teacher at the private Christian academy said that she and her students took cover in a closet as they heard shots ringing out “all over the school,” her daughter said after the morning massacre.

“She said she was hiding in a closet and that there was shooting all over and that [the shooter] had potentially tried to get into her room,” Avery Myrick told local NBC News affiliate station WSMV that her mom said in a phone call during the shooting.

Myrick’s mother has worked at the school for nearly a decade. The shooter has been identified as a former student, 28-year-old Audrey Hale. It’s unclear how long ago Hale was a student at the school or for what amount of time, police said.

The worried daughter said she was relieved to hear her mother was alright, but said she was pained for those who lost loved ones during the shooting.

“Even though I was hearing from her, we didn’t really know if she was safe,” Myrick added. “But just getting that initial phone call that she was OK, it obviously brings a ton of relief but you know, you’re still hurting for the people out there that might not get that call.”

Six families never got that call.

Hale shot and killed students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, as well as custodian Mike Hill and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, both 61, and school head Katherine Koonce, 60. Scruggs was the daughter of the lead pastor of the Presbyterian church attached to the school, according to online records.

On Monday night, The Covenant School released a statement asking for privacy as the school community begins the process of healing.

“Our community is heartbroken,” the statement said. “We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing.”

Hale, who had written a manifesto detailing her plans for the shooting, was shot and killed by police at the scene.