Harrowing recordings of 911 calls paint a disturbing picture of the distress and fear felt by those inside Nashville’s Covenant School on Monday as an attacker went on a killing spree that left six people dead.
The audio of about two-dozen emergency calls, released Thursday by the Metro Nashville Police Department, unveiled more details about the 14 minutes between the active shooter alarm being raised at the private Christian school and the police takedown of the assailant, 28-year-old former student Audrey Hale.
Three 9-year-old children, a custodian, a substitute teacher, and the head of the school were killed before police officers arrived and shot down Hale.
In one of the 911 calls released, an adult woman’s voice can be heard amid the sound of alarm sirens blaring in the background.
When the dispatcher asked the caller if she wanted to talk to the police when they arrive, a child can be heard saying in a whimpering voice, “I want to go home.”
When asked if she was in a “safe spot,” the woman replied that she was hiding with others in an upstairs area of the school in the art room hallway.
“We’re in the art room closet,” she told the dispatcher. “I hear another shot, I’m hearing more shots.”
“Please hurry I’m hearing shots,” she continued, quivering. “They sound kind of close.”
The dispatcher then instructed the woman to try to stay quiet, at which point she can be heard shushing those around her, “Be quiet.”
In another call, a woman who appears to be a staff member told the police that at least one of her colleagues might be carrying weapons.
“We do have a school person, or two ... I’m not sure ... who would be packing, whose job it is for security,” she said in the call. “We don’t have security guards, but we have staff.”
The woman didn’t name those staff members. Neither it is clear whether any of them was present on campus when the attack took place.
Nashville police didn’t respond to a request to confirm whether any Covenant School staff member had a gun or fired at the shooter.
Another call came in after the police started to sweep the school building. A female teacher told the dispatcher that she was sheltering in a closet with 28 students and two fellow teachers, and that someone who claimed to be a police office was outside the door.
“Can you confirm that he’s an actual officer, please?” the teacher asked, while a man’s voice can be heard in the background.
“I’m not going to come out with my kids unless he is indeed a police officer,” she said.
The three children who were killed were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. The three adults were 60-year-old Katherine Koonce, the head of the school; Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian; and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, also 61.
“In tribute to Evelyn’s light and love of color, funeral guests are invited to wear pink or other joyful colors,” the obituary says.
