Nashville school shooting: Six killed by female shooter in Tennessee

The attack took place on Monday at a private Christian school which teaches children up to around 12 years old. 

Nashville police said they engaged and killed the shooter, a 28-year-old woman who may have been a former student. 

Mass shootings committed by women are far more rare than those committed by men, according to crime statistics. 

The dead include three children, three staff members and the shooter, officials said in a news conference. 

The suspect was carrying two "assault-type" rifles and at least one pistol, which has been recovered at the scene. Her identity remains unclear. 

The Covenant School in Nashville, where the incident took place, has about 200 students, the youngest of them pre-school age. Local media reported that it implemented an "active shooter" programme in 2022. 

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said initial findings indicate the attacker may have been a former student at the school. He said the findings are based on "clues" found inside a nearby parked car. 

Investigators do not yet know how she entered the campus.

One police officer was wounded by cut glass while responding to the incident, police said. Two officers who entered the building went towards the sound of gunfire and encountered the shooter on the school's second floor, where they fatally shot her. 

The entire attack lasted around 14 minutes. 
 

Parents were told to gather at a nearby church to be reunited with their children.

In a statement, Nashville Mayor John Cooper said the city has "joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting".

"My heart goes out to the families of the victims," Mr Cooper added. "Our entire city stands with you."

President Joe Biden called the shooting a "family's worst nightmare".

"We have to do more to stop gun violence," he said, calling on Congress to pass gun control laws. 

"It is ripping our communities apart, and ripping the very soul of this nation."
 

According to data compiled by Education Week, there were 12 school shootings in 2023 up until 23 March that have resulted in deaths or injuries in the US.

FBI data shows that of 61 mass shootings that took place in 2021 - the last year for which data is available - only one involved a female suspect. Of 345 incidents from 2000 to 2019, only 13 involved female shooters.