1 Student Killed, Another Wounded in Nashville High School Cafeteria Shooting; Shooter Dead

A 17-year-old shooter killed himself after fatally wounding a female student in a shooting at a Nashville high school on Wednesday, police said.

The gunman, 17-year-old Solomon Henderson, used a handgun to open fire at Antioch High School just after 11 a.m. CT, police said.

The 16-year-old who was killed was identified as Josselin Corea Escalante. A male student, 17, suffered a graze wound to the arm and was treated at a hospital and released, police said.

“The investigation to this point has not established a connection between Henderson and the two shooting victims. It may be that they were struck by his random gunfire in the cafeteria,” police said in a statement Wednesday evening.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said earlier that Henderson was an active student at the school and took the school bus in the morning before later opening fire in the cafeteria.

“He entered into the cafeteria firing multiple rounds, striking her … before pulling the weapon on himself,” Drake said at a news conference.

A motive is unclear, but Drake said authorities are looking into “some materials on the internet.”

One student said he saw people get shot and hid behind garbage cans before fleeing out a back door.

“I saw people getting shot, on the ground, bleeding and stuff. Me and my friends and everybody in the back, we all ran out the side door crouching down. I tried to help these people who was falling, getting pushed,” the student told NBC affiliate WSMV of Nashville. “We ran out the back of the school near the football field.”

The teen said he felt a lot of “pain and grief” because he saw people “shot in front of my face.”

According to the teen, the school searches students but does not have metal detectors.

Adrienne Battle, Director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, told reporters that over the years the district has implemented a range of safety measures, including having a school resource officer.

“I know there are questions about whether additional steps, such as stationary metal detectors, should be considered,” she said. “While past research has shown they have had limitations and unintended consequences, we will continue to explore emerging technologies and strategies to strengthen school safety.”

There were two school resource officers at Antioch High School, but they were in a different part of the building when the shooting started, the police department said. They rushed to the cafeteria and arrived right after the shooter killed himself, the department said.

One parent described what happened as “unbelievable.”

“I say it every day to all three of my kids, ‘I love you. Have a good day.’ I’m sad for whoever is trying to contact their child, who said ‘I love you, have a good day’ and their child is not answering the phone,” the parent told WSMV.

Students were bused to Ascension Saint Thomas Hospital, where they were reunited with their parents.

A SWAT team cleared the school, authorities said.

Tennessee State Troopers, state Homeland Security special agents and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation are assisting.

Antioch High School was on lockdown and will be closed for the rest of the week.

Gov. Bill Lee said he was briefed on the incident, and expressed his gratitude for law enforcement and first responders “who responded quickly and continue to investigate.”

“As we await more information, I join Tennesseans in praying for the victims, their families & the school community,” he said in a post on X.

via: NBC News

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