The First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden, joined a candlelight memorial on Wednesday evening in Nashville, Tennessee, to remember the six people who perished in the Covenant School massacre on Monday. Three students—Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney—as well as three employees—Katherine Koonce, Cynthia Peak, and Mike Hill—, were among the victims. The gunman, Audrey Hale, 28, a former pupil of the private Christian elementary school, entered the structure armed with two AR-15s and a handgun, and she then began fire, tragically killing several people.
Hale had previously written on Facebook about losing a love partner, which may have provided some insight into the attack’s motivation. According to a former instructor, Hale publicly lamented the loss of the unidentified person, proclaimed the mourning, and requested to be called Aiden and to use masculine pronouns moving forward. According to Nashville Police Chief John Drake, Hale had seven lawfully purchased firearms hidden at home and was being treated by a psychiatrist for an emotional issue prior to the killings. He added that the tragic attack might have been motivated by an unidentified animus towards the establishment. Speaker of the Republican House Kevin
In response to the tragedy, McCarthy has refrained from endorsing new gun control legislation, stating that lawmakers must carefully consider all the relevant information.