By Katie Daviscourt – The Postmillennial
A school shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tennesee, on Wednesday left two students, including the shooter, dead and one injured. The incident occurred inside the school’s cafeteria at 11:09 am, authorities said.
Metro Nashville police identified the suspect as 17-year-old Solomon Henderson. Authorities said Henderson entered the cafeteria armed with a pistol and allegedly fired several shots. One female student, identified as 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante, was killed, while another male student was grazed by a bullet. The shooter then turned the gun on himself, resulting in a deadly shot to the head, police said. Officers responded to the scene at 11:11 am.
Another student was transported to Vanderbilt Pediatrics for treatment of an eye injury that occurred when he fell while trying to escape the scene, according to Metro Nashville PD spokesman Don Aaron.
The building was evacuated by tactical officers, who then proceeded to stabilize the campus. According to Metro police, two SROs were present within the building at the time of the shooting; however, they were not in the cafeteria’s immediate proximity. By the time they arrived, the shooting had concluded.
Students were sent to a reunification site for their parents to come pick them up. One student witness recanted the horrifying incident to reporters, saying, “The shooter was in the front of the cafeteria just shooting them. We ran out the side door.”
During a 2:30 pm press conference, MNPD Chief John Drake said authorities are working to determine a possible motive.
“As to a motive, we’re looking into that,” Drake said, per the Tennesseean. “There are some materials on the internet that we’re looking at that’s under the investigation.”
Chief Drake suggested the shooting may have been preventable. “We believe there’s some materials out there, and maybe they were seen,” he said, strongly asserting that if someone had said something “maybe more could have been done.”
The White House released a statement saying, “The President and his team are monitoring the news out of Nashville. As details unfold, the White House offers its heartfelt thoughts and prayers to those impacted by this senseless tragedy and thank the brave first responders responding to the incident.”