A 28-year-old, who identified as transgender, has shot dead three children aged nine and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.
Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who was once a student there, was killed by police after a confrontation with officers following the attack at the Covenant School.
Police said the “lone zealot”, who lived in Nashville, was armed with two assault-type weapons, and a handgun.
Hale had a manifesto and detailed maps of the school, and entered the building by shooting through a door before the killings.
It was also revealed the attacker identified as transgender.
Image: A child cries on the bus leaving the Covenant School, following a mass shooting
Image: Pic: Metro Nashville Police Department
Police chief John Drake said:“We have a manifesto. We have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this day, the actual incident. We have a map drawn out about how this was all going to take place.”
The six victims have been named as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged nine, 61-year-olds Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill, and 60-year-old Katherine Koonce who was the school’s headteacher.
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Image: Headteacher Katherine Koonce was among the six victims. Pic: The Covenant School
Image: Mike Hill was also shot dead. Pic: Facebook
Officers started receiving reports of an attack at 10.13am (4.13pm UK time) and as police began clearing the ground floor of the school they heard gunfire coming from the second floor.
Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response and fatally shot the suspect at 10.27am (4.27pm).
The three children, who were all students, were pronounced dead after they arrived at hospital.
The female attacker died after being “engaged by” officers, police said in a Twitter post.
A possible motive for Hale’s gun violence is not known.
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0:54
Nashville shooting ‘sick’, says Biden
Biden condemns ‘sick’ attack
US President Joe Biden called Monday’s attack “sick” and “heartbreaking”.
He said the US needs to do more to protect schools and he called on the Senate to pass the assault weapons ban – which would criminalise the knowing sale, manufacture, transfer, possession or importation of many types of semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines.
No one else was shot in the assault at the school, which teaches students up to sixth grade (around 12 years old).
Image: A police officer at the scene
So far this year, there have been 89 US school shootings – defined as when a gun is fired on school property.
In 2022, there were 303 such incidents, the highest of any year in the K-12 school shooting database, which goes back to 1970.
Image: Children from the Covenant School hold hands as they are taken to another area to be reunited with their parents
Other pupils walked to safety, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church where they were reunited with their parents.
Officers with rifles, heavy vests and helmets could be seen walking through the school car park and around the perimeter of the building.
Helicopter footage also showed the officers looking around a wooded area between the campus and a nearby road.
Police said no officers were deployed to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.
Nashville mayor John Cooper thanked emergency services for their response to the attack.
He tweeted: “In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting.
“My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.”
‘Unimaginable tragedy’
Democrat state representative Bob Freeman, whose district includes the Covenant School, called the shooting an “unimaginable tragedy”.
“I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there,” Mr Freeman said.
“I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.”
The Covenant School has about 200 students from pre-school to sixth grade and was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the school’s website.
Donald Trump has revealed hefty trade tariffs against at least seven countries, to be applied from 1 August.
The initial announcement, via his Truth Social platform, concerned Japan and South Korea.
Both would face 25% rates on all goods, he said.
Malaysia and Kazakhstan were later added to the list, while South Africa was told it faced a 30% rate.
Laos and Myanmar were hit with 40% duties.
It marks the restart of the threatened “liberation day” escalation that was paused in April, for 90 days, to allow for negotiations to take place with all US trading partners.
The US president is sending each nation a letter to inform them of the tariff rates they face and warn against retaliatory tariffs.
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Those duties will come on top of sector-specific tariffs – such as 50% rates covering steel – which are already in force.
Mr Trump says in the letters that rates can be adjusted “upward or downward, depending on our relationship with your country”.
Country-specific tariffs had been due to take effect from Wednesday this week but Mr Trump had earlier revealed that nations would start to get letters instead, setting out the US position.
The letters sent to Japan and South Korea cited persistent trade imbalances for the rates and included the sentence: “We invite you to participate in the extraordinary Economy of the United States, the Number One Market in the World, by far.”
He ended both letters by saying, “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
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The European Union – the biggest single US trading partner – is among those set to get a letter in the coming days.
Mr Trump has also threatened an additional 10% tariff on any country aligning itself with the “anti-American policies” of BRICS nations – those are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa and whose members also include Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates.
The UK, bar a massive shock U-turn, should be exempt.
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2:49
What does the UK-US trade deal involve?
The country was the first to be granted a trade deal, of sorts, in May and the Trump administration has claimed many others had been offering concessions since the clock ticked down to 9 July.
The UK is not expected to face any changes to its current 10% rate due to the trade truce, which came into effect last week.
While UK-made cars aerospace products face no duties under a new quota arrangement, it still remains to be seen whether 25% tariffs on UK-produced steel and aluminium will be cancelled.
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5:08
Can the UK avoid steel tariffs?
They could, conceivably, even be raised to 50%, as is currently the case for America’s other trading partners, because no agreement on eliminating the rate was reached when the government struck its deal in May.
It all amounts to more uncertainty for the UK steel sector.
A No 10 spokesman said on Monday: “Our work with the US continues to get this deal implemented as soon as possible.
“That will remove the 25% tariff on UK steel and aluminium, making us the only country in the world to have tariffs removed on these products.
“The US agreed to remove tariffs on these products as part of our agreement on 8 May. It reiterated that again at the G7 last month. The discussions continue, and will continue to do so.”
China and Vietnam have also secured some US concessions.
The dollar strengthened but US stock markets lost ground in the wake of the letters to Japan and South Korea being made public, with the broad-based S&P 500 down by 1%.
Stock markets in both Japan and South Korea were closed for the day but US-traded shares of SK Telecom and LG Display were down 7.5% and 5.8% respectively.
Details of those who have died and those who are missing after US flash floods are slowly emerging – with several young girls among those unaccounted for.
At least 82 people have died from the flooding in Texas, with an unknown number of people – including 10 girls and a counsellor from Camp Mystic in Kerr County – still missing.
As much as 10ins (25cm) of heavy rain fell in just a few hours overnight in central Kerr County on Friday, causing the banks of the Guadalupe River to burst at around 4am local time.
Tributes to those who died, and appeals for those who are still missing, are now being shared.
Image: Officials said 27 girls from Camp Mystic were reported missing after the flash floods in Texas
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3:35
Texas searches for missing children
Who are the victims?
Renee Smajstrla, eight
Image: Renee Smajstrla. Pic: Family handout
Renee’s uncle Shawn Salta confirmed the eight-year-old had died, and said she was one of 700 children staying at Camp Mystic.
“Renee has been found and while not the outcome we prayed for, the social media outreach likely assisted the first responders in helping to identify her so quickly,” he said.
“We are thankful she was with her friends and having the time of her life, as evidenced by this picture from yesterday.
“She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic.”
Sarah Marsh, eight
Image: Sarah Marsh. Pic: Family handout
Mountain Brook mayor Stewart Welch confirmed the death of eight-year-old Sarah, from Alabama, who was a pupil at Cherokee Bend Elementary.
“This is an unimaginable loss for her family, her school, and our entire community,” he said. “Sarah’s passing is a sorrow shared by all of us, and our hearts are with those who knew and loved her.
“As we grieve alongside the Marsh family, we also remember the many others affected by this tragedy.”
Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner, both nine
Image: Lila Bonner (left) and Eloise Peck. Pic: Family handout
Eloise’s mother Missy Peck told local broadcaster FOX4 that her daughter and Lila were best friends and cabinmates at Camp Mystic.
Writing about her daughter on Instagram, Ms Peck said: “She lost her life in the tragic flooding… our family is grieving and processing this unimaginable loss together.”
Lila’s family told NBC Dallas Fort Worth, a local affiliate network of Sky’s US partner network, that they were in “unimaginable grief”, and said: “We ache with all who loved her.”
Janie Hunt, nine
Image: Janie Hunt
Janie’s family confirmed her death to a reporter from NBC Dallas Fort Worth, who said “her mother tells me she’s devastated”.
Richard ‘Dick’ Eastland, owner of Camp Mystic
Image: Richard ‘Dick’ Eastland, owner of Camp Mystic. Pic: Family handout
Kerr County judge Rob Kelly told the Washington Post that Mr Eastland, who owned the camp died in a helicopter on the way to a Houston hospital.
Local outlet The Kerrville Daily Times reported he was killed while trying to save the girls from the flash floods.
“It doesn’t surprise me at all that his last act of kindness and sacrifice was working to save the lives of campers,” guest columnist Paige Sumner said in the Daily Times’ tribute to Mr Eastland.
Blair and Brooke Harber, 13 and 11
Image: Blair and Brooke Harber. Pic: Family handout
RJ Harber told CNN his daughters died during flooding in Kerr County, saying Blair “was a gifted student and had a generous kind heart”.
He added that Brooke “was like a light in any room, people gravitated to her and she made them laugh and enjoy the moment”.
He also said both his parents were still missing.
Jane Ragsdale, owner of Heart O’ the Hills camp
Image: Jane Ragsdale. Pic: Heart O’ the Hills
On Heart O’ the Hills’s website, the camp confirmed it was “right in the path of the flood” along the Guadalupe River.
While there were no campers in residence, Jane Ragsdale died. The camp said: “We at the camp are stunned and deeply saddened by Jane’s death.
“She embodied the spirit of Heart O’ the Hills and was exactly the type of strong, joyful woman that the camp aimed to develop with the girls entrusted to us each summer.”
Julian Ryan, 27
Image: Julian Ryan. Pic: GoFundMe
Relatives of Mr Ryan told local news broadcaster KHOU 11 that he died saving his family from floodwaters in Texas Hill County.
They described how he tried to smash a window to help them escape the rising water, but it cut his arm and he bled out before help could arrive.
Tanya Burwick, 62
Image: Tanya Burwick. Pic: Rhea Brunswick via AP
Ms Burwick was heading to work at a Walmart in the San Angelo area early Friday when the flood waters hit.
When she didn’t show up for work, her employer filed a missing persons report and sent another colleague to look for the 62-year-old.
Police found Ms Burwick’s unoccupied SUV fully submerged later that day, before locating her body on Saturday morning, “several blocks” away from her car.
Her daughter, Lindsey Burwick, said her mother was a beloved parent, grandparent and colleague to many, adding: “She lit up the room and had a laugh that made other people laugh.”
The area around the Guadalupe River is home to dozens of summer camps, but it is Camp Mystic that was long favoured by the Texas elite.
For almost a century, the daughters of senators, presidents, and oil barons would stream through the gates each summer.
“The camp has always served as a near-flawless training ground for archetypal Texas women,” wrote Texas Monthly writer Mimi Swartz in a 2011 profile.
First Lady Laura Bush was a camp counsellor there during college, while President Lyndon B Johnson sent daughters and granddaughters through the green gates.
Nicole Nugent Covert, granddaughter of Lady Bird and Lyndon B Johnson, described dropping her daughter off at Mystic.
“You get a feeling when you drive up to the Hill Country and you’d see the Mystic sign, and you’d feel the weight of the world had been lifted off you,” she told the Austin American-Statesman in 2010.
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“There were no worries. I still feel that way. When I drop my daughter off, I’m jealous.”
Once inside the Christian camp, hundreds of girls would learn to ride horses, catch fish, and hunt. They wore white on Sundays, when fried chicken was also served.
The halcyon summer days would culminate in a war-canoe race between two competing “tribes”.
Image: Items lie scattered inside a cabin at Camp Mystic. Pic: Reuters
A deposit for the camp cost $400 – while the current full fee is unknown in 2011 it cost $4,300 (£3,150) for a 30-day session.
Camp director dies ‘saving girls’
Founded in 1926, the camp was bought by Agnes Doran Stacy, a Dallas socialite, and her husband, Pop, in 1939, and has stayed in the family for the next three generations.
Mystic’s family bond came under pressure in 2011 when the Eastland siblings – grandchildren of Agnes – got into a messy legal battle over the 725-acre camp. The family eventually reached a confidential settlement in 2012.
Image: A Camp Mystic sign is seen near the entrance. Pic: AP
Current director Dick Eastland, who ran the camp alongside his wife Tweety, has been confirmed dead by his grandson. George Eastland said his grandfather died trying to save the girls in his care when the flash floods suddenly hit.
At first, 27 of the camp’s girls were missing, their cabins swept away in waters that rose suddenly at 4am. That figure is now 11 – 10 campers and one counsellor.
Image: Renee Smajstrla, 8, died in the flash floods at Camp Mystic, Texas. Pic: Family handout
“She will forever be living her best life at Camp Mystic,” Renee’s uncle, Shawn Salta, wrote in tribute to her.
The ‘Mystic mafia’ mourns
In her 2011 article, Swartz described a “Mystic mafia” of women that stretched across the world, their bonds forged by summers at camp.
And those legions of women are mourning today.
“Camp Mystic has been my safe haven for years – a place of peace, joy, and true belonging,” one wrote on social media.
“It’s where light lives and God’s love overflows. A true slice of Heaven on earth. This weekend, tragedy has struck this sacred space, and my heart is shattered.”
“Mystic gave me more than I really know how to put into words. my heart breaks for the campers, staff, and their families in this impossible time,” another wrote.