NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Hundreds gathered for a candlelight vigil in Nashville on Wednesday to celebrate and lament the deaths of three children and three adults at a Christian school this week.
As one speaker after another read the names of the victims and offered condolences to their families, the downtown ceremony for the victims of the shooting at The Covenant School was sombre and at times tearful. The family of Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian who was among those slain, including his seven children, was in attendance.
Jill Biden was also present, although she did not address the gathering. Sheryl Crow delivered “I Shall Believe” and finished with the words to “What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love” by Dionne Warwick. Margo Price did an a cappella rendition of “Tears of Anger,” while Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show led the crowd in “America the Beautiful.”
“Two days ago was the saddest day in the history of our community,” stated Mayor John Cooper. “I wish we weren’t here, but our presence is required.”
Shaundelle Brooks, who lost her 23-year-old son, Akilah Dasilva, in the 2018 Waffle House shooting in Nashville, said she attended the vigil to show her solidarity for the families of the victims.
She said, “I know what it’s like to be a parent – what it’s like to feel like you’re drowning and unable to move, and to experience weakness and a hole in your stomach.”
Monday morning, a former student, age 28, drove to the school, blasted out the glass doors, entered, and began firing randomly, according to the police.
The victims were identified as 9-year-old pupils Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney; the school’s principal Katherine Koonce, 60; substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61; and Hill.
Police have not yet discovered the shooter’s motive, however they have stated that the attacker did not target particular victims.
Price, who has been very vociferous against Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s stance on state gun restrictions, tweeted after the incident, “Our children are dying and being shot in school, but you’re more concerned with drag queens than smart gun legislation? Crow and Secor also called for stricter gun laws in tweets posted after the shooting, claiming that “blood is on your hands.”
At the vigil, however, there was little discussion of gun reform, as participants avoided the political divide between Nashville and the rest of Tennessee. Together, Republican and Democratic legislators demanded remembrance for the six victims.
Lee stated on Tuesday that Peak was a good friend of his wife, Maria, and that the two were scheduled to have dinner together after Peak’s job that day.
“This morning, Maria awoke without one of her closest friends,” Lee said in a video message, noting that his wife formerly taught alongside Peak and Koonce. According to him, “the women have been family friends for decades.”
Pope Francis conveyed condolences to Nashville and prayed for those impacted earlier on Wednesday.
George Grant, a minister and leader in the Nashville Presbytery, avoided discussing politics as well.
“When commentators and politicians attempt to make sense of the incomprehensible, we rarely ask why. Grant stated, “We know why; we live in a flawed, fallen world.” The church affiliated with the school is a part of the presbytery, which is comprised of churches throughout middle Tennessee and southern Kentucky.
Grant said in a blog post published on Wednesday how alerts of an active shooter at the school disrupted a presbytery planning meeting that included Chad Scruggs, pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church and father of one of the shooting victims.
“We spilled into the hallway with shocked, horrified, and distressed gaze. … Our greatest apprehensions were fulfilled,” Grant wrote.
The gunman, named by police as Audrey Hale, was under a doctor’s treatment for an unidentified mental problem and was not on police radar prior to the incident, according to authorities. Monday, Hale was tragically shot by school police.
Officials have provided ambiguous information on Hale’s gender.
Monday police recognised the gunman as a female for hours. The police chief stated later in the day that Hale was transsexual. A police official stated in an email on Tuesday that Hale “was designated female at birth” but used masculine pronouns on a social media presence.
In 2017, Maria Colomy, a former instructor at the Nossi College of Art & Design in Nashville, remembers Hale as a bright artist who was enrolled in her social media class. Colomy recalls Hale “going the extra mile” on projects.
In the last year, Hale wrote on Facebook about the death of a love relationship and requested to be referred to by a male name and male pronouns, according to the source.
Colomy stated that Hale had “expressed her grief quite publicly” on Facebook. “With his anguish, Hale declared, ‘In this person’s honour, I will become the person I want to be, and I will be named Aiden.'”
Colomy said that on Hale’s first day at the Nossi School, she witnessed him grow upset while attempting to enter into the student site and begin to cry.
Colomy stated, “I approached Hale and said, ‘Look, if you need to step out, that’s absolutely fine.'” After that, though, Hale began to feel comfortable at school and “really began to thrive,” according to Colomy.
Samira Hardcastle, who attended middle school and high school with Hale, remarked that he appeared to be both nice and socially awkward. Hardcastle stated that she chatted briefly with Hale last month at a gathering for a mutual acquaintance, and nothing looked unusual.
She stated, “I don’t believe we can reason crazy behaviour, so I’m simply trying to make peace with it.”
Many were moved to tears by “Will the Circle Be Unbroken,” a Christian song.
