Grief on the ground

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

First up, the aftermath of a deadly school shooting in Nashville. Now a quick warning for parents…this is a heavy story, and while we won’t discuss any gratuitous details, we want you to be aware in case you have little ones around.

On Tuesday, Metro Nashville Police released security footage from the school’s lobby of Covenant Christian school. In it, the shooter, Audrey Hale, breaks through the locked glass doors by blasting her way in. The police also released body-cam footage from two officers who arrived on the scene just 11 minutes after the initial 9-1-1 call.

SOUND: [OFFICER SAYING "LET'S GO"]

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Within two minutes of entering the building, police caught up with the shooter and confirmed she was dead after a brief exchange of gunshots. Authorities are still examining the shooter’s belongings for evidence of a motive. In the meantime, a friend of the shooter made public a series of messages she received from Hale just minutes before the shooting. In them, Hale confirms that she intended to die.

REICHARD: Authorities have not yet released the shooter’s manifesto or indicated what her motive was in carrying out the crime. But that hasn’t stopped leaders on Capitol Hill from drawing conclusions about what action they believe the country needs to take. Here’s President Joe Biden:

BIDEN: So I again, call on Congress to pass the assault weapons ban, pass it. It should not be a partisan issue. It's a common sense issue. We have to act now and people say, why do I keep saying this if we're not happening? Because I want you to know who isn't doing it.

BROWN: Meanwhile, Republicans like Missouri Senator Josh Hawley are concerned that the mass shooting was carried out against a Christian school.

HAWLEY: I have called on the director of the FBI and the Secretary of Homeland Security to open a federal investigation, a federal hate crime investigation into what happened in Nashville. And I call on this body, every member of this body to condemn in the clearest of terms, this hate crime against this community in Nashville.

REICHARD: News that the biologically female shooter claimed a male identity and may have resented the Christian school has led to speculation and accusation from the right and the left.

But for now, Nashville is grieving…and WORLD Reporters Kim Henderson and Lauren Canterberry join us now from Nashville to talk about what they’ve seen on the ground. Ladies, good morning.

KIM HENDERSON: Good morning.

LAUREN CANTERBERRY: Good morning.

BROWN: Well Kim, let’s start with you. Can you tell us about the school where this shooting happened? Can you describe the property for us?

KIM HENDERSON, REPORTER: You know, the school shares property with the church. And it's a really unique setting. It's in the middle of this upper class community with all the shopping and restaurants you'd expect to find in Nashville. But the church is set on top of a hill with all these woods surrounding it and the steeple is poking out, you really can't see a whole lot else. But it's really magnificent. And as I was driving up the first time, and I saw this, I just couldn't get past the idea that it looked like a fortress, you know, looks really almost impenetrable. But of course it wasn't.

REICHARD: Hmm. Lauren, we know the names of the victims. But who were they as part of this community of teachers and students and church members?

LAUREN CANTERBERRY, REPORTER: Yeah, so the staff, I mean, the headmaster was one of those killed, unfortunately, along with a longtime custodian who was very respected in the community, and a substitute teacher who had taken the day to step in. As for the students, they attended different churches throughout the community, one of which was the daughter of the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church there at the school. It's just been really heartbreaking to hear how many communities have been affected by this— not just the school itself, because these people belonged to different churches and congregations around the city. And their loss is being felt very heavily.

BROWN: Well, we do know the police responded swiftly, professionally, and effectively. Kim, you spoke with an electrician who’s worked in the Covenant Presbyterian buildings, and here’s what he had to say:

MAN: We got heroes. These are our heroes. I mean, if it wasn't for these people who had been so many more would have died. They are heroes, Metro’s heroes, and they got in there and you saw it. They went in there and got engaged right away. I think 13 minutes. And you can't you can't say nothing more than I mean, Chief Drake and his whole crew. They're awesome. I'm very proud of Chief Drake and his crew of officers.

Kim, like many of us, I know you’ve seen that video of the police officers running towards shots fired, you are the wife of public servant who spent his entire career in law enforcement. Can you speak about what you saw from that perspective?

HENDERSON: Of course, that's a tough thing to watch. And you're trying to imagine what those gentlemen were thinking as they're going into that building. But I will tell you that the law enforcement officers in my family who've seen that video, say that it's spot on. That that was a fantastic response and everybody on the ground that I talked to, that is one common thread that went throughout their remarks was how pleased they are with the Metro Police response. And you, you hear also comparisons to Uvalde. And we're just so glad that things happened differently this time.

REICHARD: Lauren, I'll ask you: How has the community responded to this? Both the folks who are part of the Covenant school and the church family, as well as the people in Nashville more generally. What are they doing for the families?

CANTERBERRY: So I've spoken with a number of people who, even if they weren't directly impacted by the shooting, they they know someone who was a lot of families are gathering meals for people who've lost someone or who knows someone who lost someone. Several fundraisers have been set up for these families, both from within that church community and others around the area. And in terms of the city as a whole, I mean, there have been numerous vigils held both in churches and just in public spaces, towns around Nashville have gathered together to pray and to mourn together. It's really just, it's moving. How many people want to pray and want to offer support after something like this.

BROWN: Kim, has anyone from the school or church made any public comment on what happened or what’s next?

HENDERSON: Well, um, early on the church hired a PR for early on the church hired a PR firm to handle the media, which on the scene, it just has a really large presence across the street from the school insurance, it's just lines and lines and reporters and their, their entourage of equipment. It's, it's a big deal. So it's understandable that leadership in the church has had to take a really cautious and protective stance. I was on the scene yesterday, when damaged police cars were loaded and carried away from the property. And I could see bullet holes that were in at least one windshield. So it was a very observable, somber reminder of the violence that happened. And you know, at some point, the church and school returned to that space. And that's, that's a hard goal.

REICHARD: Lauren, some of the mainstream coverage of this situation has pointed out that because this was a private school, it didn’t have any police or resource officers on the grounds, so we hear renewed conversation about security. Have schools in the area made any observable changes in their security?

CANTERBERRY: Kim and I were chatting with people at the scene yesterday and one woman works at the senior health facility behind the school and said that within 24 hours after the shooting, they had installed new security gates into their drive and parking space. It's really incredible how quickly that was done. So it was clear that they felt it was very pressing that they get that done.

HENDERSON: And while we were there on the scene, yesterday, a group of schoolchildren came down the sidewalks walking from their facility, and they were placed signs along the road and other things expressing their love and support of covenant but I was able to spot I was able to speak with one of the moms and I asked her what she was talking about with her children Monday night. And we talked about the issue of evil. And she just made a very honest statement that she's learning how to explain this to her children one day at a time. One day at a time.

REICHARD: Some media reports emphasize this being the first mass shooting at a private Christian school. And as we heard earlier, Senator Josh Hawley has called on the Department of Justice to investigate what he called a hate crime against Christians. But President Biden waved that aside when asked about it. He said he didn’t know if it was a hate crime. And Attorney General Merrick Garland said that until a motive is identified, there’ll be no hate crime investigation. Lauren, did those Christians you spoke to express concerns that this killer targeted believers?

CANTERBERRY: No one I spoke with felt targeted. Another running theme that I heard from a lot of people is that this happens all too frequently. This is something that kids are having to learn about. They are seeing this happen around the country and now in their own neighborhood. Believers I spoke with we're less concerned about them personally and their community as Christians and more concerned about making sure that we talk to kids about this and that we take steps to preventing it whether that be some mentioned gun control, but more mentioned mental health care from what we know about the shooter herself. She was struggling with a lot of things and that was very complex. And most of our sources have said they wish there was more care for young people who are struggling with some of these really deep issues.

BROWN: One more question for you, Kim. Going into this taking this assignment, how did you prepare for what you were going to encounter?

HENDERSON: Well, you know, you read scripture, you pray, but I have the great blessing of years of faithful teaching of pastors into my life, on issues of real Christian living. And the Christian life is filled with suffering and questions about evil and its presence in our world. But I've been well taught and if I'm not equipped to deal with this, it will not be because I have not been well taught. It would be on my shoulders at that point. I'm thankful that, I'm thankful that as Christians, we can have certainty in the suffering.

REICHARD: That’s a good lesson to keep in mind. Kim Henderson is a senior writer for WORLD, and Lauren Canterberry is a member of WORLD’s Breaking News team. To see more of their coverage from Nashville, go to wng.org or click the link in today’s transcript.

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