28.03.2023
There was another school shooting in the United States. A private elementary school in Tennessee was reported to have attacked students and school personnel with guns on Monday, resulting in the death of six people. The suspect has been killed by the police. US President Biden called on Congress to pass legislation as soon as possible to protect campus safety.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese Website) A shooting occurred at an elementary school in Tennessee in the southern United States on Monday (March 27). A young woman armed with two assault rifles and a pistol broke into The Covenant School (The Covenant School) Schoolyard, killing 6 people, including 3 adults and 3 9-year-old children.
A spokesman for the Nashville Police Department said it received a call at 10:13 a.m. local time. When police arrived at the scene, they began to clear the first floor of the school. At the same time, they heard gunshots from the second floor. The gunman was later shot and killed by the police at 10:27 am.
Police say killer planned
Authorities said the suspect, Audrey Hale, 28, who had previously attended the school, had hand drawn a detailed map of the campus marking the entrances. Nashville Police Chief John Drake said that according to the information they have, there are more than one shooting locations in the plan, and the school is only one of them. Police said the attack was targeted and that the perpetrators had “carefully planned” it beforehand.
Nashville Police are on standby at the campus entrance
Covenant Primary School, where the crime took place, is a missionary school established in 2001 with approximately 200 students from preschool to sixth grade. Since it is a private elementary school, it is not equipped with police officers on duty like ordinary public schools. At a media conference, Nashville police stated that the three children killed were all 9 years old, and the other three adults who died were the school principal, administrator and kitchen worker. Nashville Mayor John Cooper expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
Biden urges Congress to act
So far in 2023, there have been 89 school shootings in the United States, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. There will be a total of 303 school shootings in the entire year of 2022, the highest number ever recorded in the database.
Biden has repeatedly called for stricter gun laws
Responding to the tragedy, the White House said U.S. President Joe Biden wants Congress to do more to stop gun violence, which he called “a family’s worst nightmare.” Biden, who has repeatedly called for stricter gun laws, signed the first gun control law in nearly 30 years last June.
Biden reiterated that Congress must pass a ban on assault weapons because we “need to do more to protect our schools.” White House spokeswoman Jean-Pierre (Karine Jean-Pierre) also called on Republicans to take action at the briefing to support stronger gun control. However, while Democrats currently hold a narrow majority in the Senate, the House of Representatives is led by Republicans, making it unlikely that a bipartisan consensus on a gun solution will emerge this Congress.
(comprehensive report)
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