MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Gunwoman kills 7 in US school

The perpetrator was a former student at the school

A 28-year-old woman entered the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, wielding two rifles and a handgun and opened fire, killing three children and three adults in what turned out to be the 129th mass shooting in the United States since the beginning of the year. The attacker was also confirmed dead after the incident.

Footage shared on Twitter later Monday by Metro Nashville Police showed the suspect, identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, arriving at The Covenant School. Following a 911 call, it took police 14 minutes to arrive at the scene and eventually gun down Hale on the second floor of the building, while she was still in the hallway and had not had time to enter any classrooms. Hale was determined to be a former student at the Christian facility.

Students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged nine, died in the incident. Katherine Koonce, 60, was among of the adult victims of the shooting, according to police. She is listed on The Covenant’s website as “head of school”. The other adult victims were identified as Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill, both aged 61.

Since 1979 there have been only 17 mass shootings by women in the United States, of which 7 have had a school as the dramatic setting.

“Another school shooting. I'm speechless: our children deserve so much better,” tweeted First Lady Jill Biden.

“Schools should be safe places to learn and teach. Enough is enough, Congress must take action on gun violence - how many children still need to die before action is taken?” added White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, calling again for a ban on assault weapons on behalf of President Joseph Biden, who has been unable to get through the Republican opposition, who regard the defense of the Second Amendment as one of their biggest battles.

The event in Nashville was on the same day that a schoolteacher was stabbed to death in Brazil.