Nashville School Shooting Victims: Photos and Names

Facebook (Katherine Koonce)/Police

Nashville shooting victim, Katherine Koonce.

The victims of the Nashville school shooting are three elementary school students and three staff members, including the principal, according to the Nashville Police Department.

The victims were identified by police on Twitter as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9, along with 61-year-old Cynthia Peak, 60-year-old Katherine Koonce and 61-year-old Mike Hill. Koonce was the principal, according to her Facebook page.

Nashville Police Department said in a written statement and a news conference that Audrey Hale, 28, a former art student, entered the Covenant School in Nashville just after 10 a.m. on March 27, 2023 and opened fire on the second floor.

Healthy, who lived in Nashville was shot at the scene, police said.

“UPDATE: 3 students and 3 adult staff at Covenant School were fatally shot by active gunman.” The Nashville Police Department tweeted. Police said a vehicle at the scene helped them identify the suspect.

Heavy releases a biography and photo of each victim later in this story once they are released.

Here’s what you need to know about the victims:

dr Katherine Koonce, 60

Dean Russ Crowe paid tribute to Koonce on Facebook.

“This beautiful soul, Katherine Koonce, has taught me so much — two things I think about very often,” he wrote.

“She was the principal of the Nashville school and one of the adults who was murdered. Today is such a tragedy. I know their entry into heaven was plentiful. But here on earth we are devastated. Please pray for her husband and family. And for all the families who thought today was just another Monday and the countdown to Spring Break. It’s just awful.”

Koonce wrote on Facebook that she is “Principal of Covenant School” and “former Academic Dean of Christ Presbyterian Academy.”

Koonce “majored in Leadership and Professional Studies at Trevecca Nazarene University, studied “Masters Education at Georgia State University,” and graduated from LSU and Vanderbilt University. She was from Brentwood, Tennessee and lived in Brentwood, Tennessee. Her most visible post on Facebook was about her daughter’s engagement.

Koonce was the headmaster. Katherine Koonce, who was killed in the shooting, is quoted on the school’s website as saying: “At Covenant School we are about more than just educating our students – we are part of the miracle of their development and see how they turn into whatever they want to be. Effective teaching methods and programs, a daily school chapel, and school-wide service-learning are the backdrop to the real work—helping children become what God intends them to be.” The school’s motto is, “Guard Hearts, Strengthen Spirits, Childhood celebrate”.

Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9

Hallie Scruggs, 9

William Kinney, 9

Cynthia Peak, 61

Michael Hill, 61

Police Chief John Drake said in a news conference that Hale, a former student at the school, lived in the Nashville area and entered the school through a side door.

According to their website, The Covenant School is a private Presybyterian Christian school for students from preschool through sixth grade.

Two officers confronted Hale on the second floor of the school. The Nashville Police Department tweeted. Police said in a news conference Hale had detailed maps of the school and a manifesto. The motive is not yet clear.

According to WSMV, five victims were taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The sixth victim was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

CONTINUE READING: More on the Nashville School shooting suspect