Updated: This story has been updated with more information about the victims of the Covenant School shooting.
The six victims of the mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., included three 9-year-old students, a school leader, a substitute teacher, and a custodian.
The Nashville community is mourning their loss after a 28-year-old former student opened fire at the private Christian elementary school Monday. The attacker was later killed by police, officials said.
In the wake of the shooting, family members, community leaders, and local news outlets have shared details about the six victims鈥擡velyn Dieckhaus, 9; Hallie Scruggs, 9; William Kinney, 9; Katherine Koonce, 60; Cynthia Peak, 61; and Mike Hill, 61. They were beloved children, brothers, and sisters; valued staff members; and faithful members of a church community.
The school teaches students in pre-kindergarten through 6th grade and focuses on providing them with strong leadership skills and values, according to its website.
鈥淭he beauty of a PreSchool-6th school is in its simplicity and innocence,鈥� says. 鈥�69传媒 are free to be children鈥攖hey can feel fully and safely known by our faculty and become leaders under their guidance.鈥�
The simplicity and innocence were shattered by the attack on the school. In a statement shortly after the shooting, school leaders wrote that the 鈥渃ommunity is heartbroken.鈥�
鈥淲e are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淲e are focused on loving our students, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing.鈥�
The attack is the 13th school shooting since the beginning of 2023 and the 157th school shooting since 2018, when Education Week began tracking the tragic incidents. It鈥檚 also the deadliest shooting at a K-12 school since May 2022, when a former student killed 19 students and two teachers at a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school.
Here鈥檚 what we know so far about the six victims.
Katherine Koonce was the headmaster of the Covenant School.
鈥淎t the Covenant School, we are about more than simply educating our students鈥攚e are participating in the miracle of their development and seeing them transform into who they will be,鈥� she wrote in
Her friends described her as smart, loving, and a rare female leader within a male-led religious culture,
鈥淚f there was any trouble in that school, she would run to it, not from it,鈥� Jackie Bailey, one of Koonce鈥檚 friends, told the Associated Press. 鈥淪he was trying to protect those kids 鈥� That鈥檚 just what I believe.鈥�
Koonce had worked at The Covenant School for nearly seven years. Prior to accepting that position, she was the academic dean at Christ Presbyterian Academy in Nashville, where she worked for over 15 years,
She attended Vanderbilt University and received a master鈥檚 degree in education from Georgia State University and an educational doctorate in research and professional practice from Trevecca Nazarene University.
Those who knew her described Koonce as a devoted school leader who 鈥渒new every student by name鈥� and 鈥渄id everything to help鈥� families when they were in need,
鈥淪he was an absolute dynamo and one of the smartest women I鈥檒l ever know,鈥� Anna Caudill, a former art teacher at the school, said in an interview with the Associated Press.
Evelyn Dieckhaus was a 3rd grader at The Covenant School, according to
During a Monday night vigil to honor the victims, Evelyn鈥檚 older sister cried and said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be an only child,鈥� according to the Tennessean.
Hallie Scruggs was a 9-year-old student at The Covenant School. She was also the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the senior pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church, which oversees the school.
鈥淲e love the Scruggs family and mourn with them over their precious daughter Hallie,鈥� Mark Davis, senior pastor of the Park Cities Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas, where Chad Scruggs used to work as associate pastor, said . 鈥淭ogether, we trust in the power of Christ to draw near and give us the comfort and hope we desperately need.鈥�
Mike Hill was a custodian at The Covenant School.
Hill went by 鈥淏ig Mike鈥� and was a father of eight, according to a GoFundMe created to help raise money for funeral expenses. His daughter, Brittany Hill, said that he died doing 鈥渁 job that everyone knows he absolutely loved,鈥�
鈥淚 have watched school shootings happen over the years and never thought I would lose a loved one over a person trying to solve a temporary problem with a permanent solution,鈥� Brittany wrote.
William Kinney was a 9-year-old student at the school.
He was 鈥渦nfailingly kind, gentle when the situation called for it, quick to laugh, and always inclusive of others,鈥� a family friend, Rachael Freitas, wrote in a GoFundMe campaign created Tuesday that has since been closed,
Cynthia Peak was a substitute teacher at The Covenant School.
She was originally from Leesville, Louisiana, according to She is survived by her husband, a daughter, and two sons, the station reported.
Chuck Owen, one of Peak鈥檚 lifelong friends, told the Associated Press that she was a 鈥渓oving, caring, and attentive person鈥� and a devout Christian. She helped Owen while he was grieving his sister鈥檚 death, he said.
鈥淐indy got here as quick as anybody else,鈥� Owen said in an interview with the Associated Press. 鈥淪he got here very, very quickly to grieve my sister with the rest of us. It鈥檚 a small community, a small tight knit group. She was ever present in my sister鈥檚 life and she鈥檚 been very attentive to my family since my sister passed away.鈥�
