By Aditi Sangal, Elise Hammond, Maureen Chowdhury, Zoe Sottile, Amir Vera, Meg Wagner, Veronica Rocha, Melissa Macaya and Helen Regan, CNN
The 28-year-old shooter had drawn detailed maps of Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said during a news conference Monday.
“We've also determined that there were maps drawn of the school in detail of — surveillance, entry points, et cetera. We know and believe entry was gained through shooting through one of the doors, is how they actually got into the school,” the police chief said.
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said too many children are dying from guns — a point punctuated by a mass shooting at an elementary school Monday morning that killed six people, three of them children.
"The leading cause of kids' death now is guns and gunfire and that is unacceptable," Cooper said.
A recent study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in December backs that point, finding that homicide is a leading cause of death for children in the United States and the overall rate has increased an average of 4.3% each year for nearly a decade.
Cooper said he is “overwhelmed at the thought of the loss of these families, of the future lost by these children and their families."
He said the community needs to come together and support each other.
From CNN's MJ Lee and Jasmine Wright
When President Joe Biden was initially briefed on the Nashville school shooting that killed six people, he had a “quite visceral” reaction to the news that children were among the casualties, according to a senior administration official familiar with Biden’s response to the news.
Biden has been kept up to date throughout the day as more information has come out about the circumstances surrounding the Nashville shooting.
Earlier this afternoon, Biden lamented in remarks in the East Room that gun violence was “ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of the nation."
Vice President Kamala Harris said she has been thinking and praying for the community, acknowledging the shooting at the top of her remarks during the State Banquet in Ghana.
"This community has been changed forever. So to the people of Nashville, please know that we are thinking of you and that you are in our prayers and in our hearts and that Doug and I send you all of our best during this time of grief," Harris said.
The three students who were shot and killed at Covenant School were all 9 years old, the Metro Nashville Police Department said in a tweet Monday.
They have been identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, according to police.
Three adults were also killed in the shooting. They have been identified as 61-year-old Cynthia Peak, 60-year-old Katherine Koonce and 61-year-old Mike Hill, police said.
Nashville police are expected to give an update on its investigation into the school shooting soon.
From CNN's Nicky Robertson
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer acknowledged the school shooting in Nashville and those who affected by it on Monday afternoon.
“We’re holding in our hearts those affected by this horrible tragedy, and thank the first responders who were on the scene,” Schumer said during remarks on the Senate floor on Monday.
The politician did not mention any potential congressional action on any new gun-related legislation.
From CNN's Wayne L. Sterling
Sports teams located in Nashville are showing their support for the community after a school shooting killed six people, three of them children.
"We are heartbroken by the senseless loss of life at Covenant School today," the Tennessee Titans said on Twitter, offering condolences to the families of those who were killed.
Several Titans players also posted messages on Twitter:
Major League Soccer's Nashville SC said it is "devastated by today's horrific school shooting and the thoughts that these innocent children and staff won't be coming home."
Nashville SC midfielder Dax McCarty added in his own tweet that he drives by the Covenant School every day on his way to training.
"Its easy to wallow in your own misery after a bad game or a bad day, but news like this hits you in the chest like a freight train and you realize how trivial those feelings are," McCarty said.
Vanderbilt Athletics retweeted a statement from Chancellor Daniel Diermeier pledging to share as much information as possible with the community.
Tennessee state representative Bob Freeman said that he "broke down in tears" after watching video of children being escorted from Covenant School after a school shooting that killed six.
He told CNN in an interview on Monday afternoon that he has been receiving calls from concerned parents, asking for details and updates on their children.
“That’s not something you want to have to field calls for," he said. “All across our city tonight at dinner, we’re going to have some tough conversations with our kids."
“We’re gonna need answers. We’re gonna need some comfort to at least move forward to believe that this can’t happen again. We’re gonna need to trust that our kids are safe. You drop your kids off at school, you expect to pick him up at the end of the day and you expect the school and the school system to keep them safe. That’s a pretty low bar to expect from the school system and we’ve got to do better."
Freeman mentioned that he has three children in the age range served by Covenant School. "There's a very high likelihood that one of their friends or acquaintances was one of the injured and/or deceased," he said.
He called for action to combat school shootings but said that state officials "don’t have the courage to do it."
"Other countries have had a meaningful impact on gun violence, and there's a playbook that we should follow," he said.
From CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz
US Attorney General Merrick Garland has been briefed on the school shooting in Nashville Monday morning that left six dead, according to a Justice Department spokesperson.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration has been in contact with the Justice Department and local officials about the investigation.
Special agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives responded to the scene of the shooting, the Justice Department said, and are assisting local partners.
The 28-year old shooter who killed six people at a private school in Nashville was once a student at the school, according to initial findings from police.
At a Monday press conference, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said, "From my initial findings, at one point, she was a student at that school."
He added that he was unsure what year she had attended the school.
Drake did not give the woman's name and said the investigation was ongoing. He said police have identified where she lived in Nashville.
There was a "car nearby that gave us clues" into who she was, he added.
The shooter was killed by police after fatally shooting three adults and three children at Covenant School on Monday.
