Six dead at US elementary school: new details about the shooter

Three children and three adults were killed in a shooting at an elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday. The suspected shooter was shot dead by police officers, police said. “We know she was armed with at least two assault rifles and one handgun,” said officer Don Aaron at a news conference. The police posted on Facebook a short time later that it was a 28-year-old woman from Nashville.

Police were called to the school around 10 a.m. local time. “When officers got to the second floor, they saw a gunman, a woman, shooting,” Aaron said. The officers shot them.

Manifesto and other documents

The shooter gained access to the school by shooting through one of the doors, Police Chief John Drake said at a press conference early that evening. She had detailed maps of the school, including entry points for the building. In addition, she left a “manifesto” and other documents that the investigators are now investigating and that could provide information about the previously unclear motive.

Suspect is transgender

The 28-year-old, who was a student at elementary school herself in the past, identifies as transgender. Transgender people are people who do not – or not only – identify with the sex that was documented at birth. Everything else about the personal history and whether there was a connection to the crime was initially unknown.

Motif: “There is a theory”

“There’s a theory at the moment that we might be able to talk about later, but it’s unconfirmed,” said Drake. According to police, the woman had legally acquired her weapons, two assault rifles and a handgun.

According to the police, the three adults killed are school employees. Aside from the fatalities, no other person was shot, Drake said.