Heartbreaking: School Pastor's Daughter, 9, Among Those Killed in Shooting
One victim of the shooting at Nashville's Covenant School is the daughter of the school's pastor.
Hallie Scruggs, 9, is the daughter of Pastor Chad Scruggs, who is senior pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church congregation, according to CBS News.
The girl was identified as one of the three deceased students after the attack, according to the New York Post.
The other two children have been identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney.
Three adults were also killed in the mass shooting.
They've been identified as Cynthia Peak, Mike Hill and Katherine Koonce.
Peak and Hill were faculty members at the school, and Koonce was its headmistress.
Scruggs and his family have received an outpouring of prayers and support after the tragedy.
Chad Scruggs is the Pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville and his 9 year old daughter, Hallie, was a victim in today’s shooting.
Please shower these families in prayer. 🙏🙏🙏#NashvilleCovenantSchool pic.twitter.com/JyHCi521ZU— Blue Starr 🇺🇸💫 (@bluestarrfl) March 27, 2023
Police said Audrey Hale, 28, a former student at the school, was responsible for the mass shooting and was killed by responding officers, according to the New York Post.
Officer Rex Englebert and Officer Michael Collazo confronted and shot and killed the person behind the Covenant School shooting. MNPD says they didn’t hesitate to enter the school. pic.twitter.com/CTorGQxqHr
— Jackie DelPilar FOX17 (@jsdelpilar) March 28, 2023
Audrey Hale has since been identified as a transgender who used "he-him" pronouns and had started to go by the name Aiden, the Post reported.
BREAKING: The deceased mass shooter of the Christian school in #Nashville has been identified as #trans person Audrey E. Hale. Three children & three staff were murdered. The shooting comes amid a surge in far-left death threats in Tennessee over the state https://t.co/gHQ6S0YSYd… pic.twitter.com/RbJyFe5xM9
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) March 27, 2023
Law enforcement officials indicated that Hale created a "manifesto" before the shooting, according to The New York Times.
The circumstances of the crime have led many to identify the attack as an anti-Christian hate crime.
Many Christians and people of goodwill have expressed their prayers and sympathy with the Scruggs family -- and all victims of the Covenant School tragedy.
"Please pray for Covenant Presbyterian Church of Nashville, a PCA church where six people were slain today at their Christian school, and especially for Pastor Chad Scruggs, whose 9 year old daughter was one of the victims."
"Have mercy, O God, because of your steadfast love." pic.twitter.com/w4Jsfmxv40
— Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville, SC (@SPCGreenville) March 28, 2023
Pastor Scruggs is married to Jada Scruggs. The couple has four children.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
