At least three children and three adults were left dead after a gunman opened fire at Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school, in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday (Mar. 27), per CNN. Authorities report that there are “multiple patients” due to the incident. The shooter’s identity wasn’t immediately made known, but police said it was a 28-year-old female. She was “engaged” by police and killed. The three victims of this mass shooting were pronounced dead after arriving at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, according to a hospital spokesman, per ABC News. The official said that no other patients are being treated.
Following the news, celebrities from the Nashville area and beyond shared their grief over those killed and condolences to the victims’ families. Maren Morris shared the news to her IG Story with a broken heart. “Oh My God,” she commented. Jessie James Decker also asked for people “pray for these babies” and their families. “It’s not my kids’ school, but it’s only two miles up the road,” she said through tears. “It’s in our town. It’s in our community. … I’m just so heartbroken for these families.”
On Kelsea Ballerini’s Instagram Story, she wrote, “I’m heartbroken, I’m triggered, I’m angry and I’m terrified for the loss we continue to have in this country due to guns. Three f****** kids. What are we doing.”
“Pray for Nashville. A shooting at a school has occurred. Three children dead. Praying for these babies & their families. Absolutely devastating,” tweeted Carly Pearce. “A school shooting just happened near my son’s school. Multiple children dead, but let’s make sure that the gunman had his 2nd Amendment rights. F*** you Bill Lee and f**k the NRA,” tweeted drummer/actor Nathan Followill. Jane Lynch decried how it’s become “acceptable to shoot children dead in school.”
Pray for Nashville. A shooting at a school has occurred. Three children dead. Praying for these babies & their families. Absolutely devastating 💔
— Carly Pearce (@carlypearce) March 27, 2023
Jana Kramer, who has two children that attend school in Nashville, took to her Instagram Story to address the shooting, as well. “Jolie and Jace are okay,” she wrote, referencing her kids. “My heart is absolutely breaking for the children and families right now. Why. Why. Why. I Just will never understand. Please pray.”
Cassadee Pope also posted about her heartbreak on Twitter. “I’m sick to my stomach,” she wrote. “These were babies. To what extent will we continue protecting our precious guns? How is this still happening?”
A school shooting just happened near my sons school. Multiple children dead but let’s make sure that the gunman had his 2nd Amendment rights. Fuck you Bill Lee and fuck the NRA.
— nathan followill (@doctorfollowill) March 27, 2023
Actress Katie Stevens, who lives in Nashville and recently gave birth to her first child, wrote the following on her Instagram Story: “Spent this morning weeping for the families who don’t get to hold their babies again. I will never understand why this keeps happening. And why children are dying because our country is failing to put laws in place that protect them. The fact that there are laws to “protect” children from drag queens and not gun violence is INFURIATING to me. Can’t believe my daughter has to grow up and go to school where she has to learn how to lock down for a gunman in daycare when she should only have to worry about learning how to color and play. I feel devastated, heartbroken and hopeless and I’m just so sorry to these families.”
We live in a world where is has become acceptable to shoot children dead in school.
— Jane Lynch (@janemarielynch) March 27, 2023
Broadway icon and actress Kristin Chenoweth, who also resides in Nashville, took to Twitter to express her sadness. “As a new resident of Nashville, I’m beyond saddened at the events of today,” she wrote. “I pray for all the victims and families involved. Today, it feels as if Nashville lost its innocence.”
As a new resident of Nashville, I’m beyond saddened at the events of today. I pray for all the victims and families involved. Today, it feels as if Nashville lost its innocence.
— Kristin Chenoweth (@KChenoweth) March 27, 2023
Olympic gold medalist in gymnastics and Nashville resident Shawn Johnson updated her Instagram stories with her experience, sharing that her children had been on lockdown due to the incident. “I haven’t been able to catch my breath since reading the news and getting a call from our school that they were on lockdown as well given the news. Shaking. Crying. Heartbroken. Horrific,” she wrote.
“Our babies are now home with us. I feel lucky and blessed but still so incredibly sad. No parent or family should ever have to deal with this. I’ve seen children’s ambulances, countless police cars, buses of children being transported to safety, parents flying down the street laying on their horns, people sprinting in and out of churches and schools looking for their kids. Today has changed me.”
In another slide, she wrote in part, “praying for the families whose baby won’t be coming home from school today and the families who have lost a piece of themselves. I also pray for the children and adults who may have witnessed, first hand, the heinous acts of violence inflicted today. Jesus, please be near.”
“Cant stop crying,” she captioned a video as she kissed her two children while holding them on her hips. Shawn also shared a clip of vehicles, which she claimed were leaving the scene as they brought school children to safety. “A friend said it the best…Nashville is way more than a city, it’s a family,” she wrote in another slide. “Every single person is separated by two degrees and knows each other, prays for each other, goes to church together.” she completed the thought with a broken heart emoji.
Special agents from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and other personnel responded to the Green Hills elementary school shooting. The school teaches students from preschool through sixth grade. The private school was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church. The school has had an average enrollment of about 200 people in recent years, according to its website.
This story is updating…