Police release new details
Nashville elementary school massacre apparently planned for months
Family in front of the Covenant School entrance which has become a memorial to the victims of the school assassination
© John Amis/AP/DPA
After the gun attack at a Nashville elementary school, the police have new insights: The shooter, once a student at the school herself, had planned other crimes, the investigators say. The question of why remains.
A week after the killing spree at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, police released new details about the incident. Accordingly, the massacre, in which three children and three adults were killed, had been planned for months. This is evident from writings and diary entries found on the person responsible, the Nashville police said on Monday.
There is still no clarity about the motive. However, it is known that she had considered other such acts. The heavily armed person fired a total of 152 shots from the time he entered the school until he was shot dead by the police.
According to police, it is a 28-year-old woman from Nashville who used to go to school herself. According to investigators, she self-identified as transgender. This is the name given to people who do not – or only not – identify with the sex that was documented at birth. However, the police made conflicting statements about the gender, which caused public confusion.
The act caused great dismay in the United States and once again fueled a debate about possible reforms to gun laws. The United States has long faced massive levels of gun violence. Rampages and shootings are part of everyday life there.