Three children killed in Nashville school shooting, suspect dead

Three children were killed in a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday morning before police "engaged" the suspected attacker, leaving the suspect dead, local officials said.

The shooting happened at The Covenant School, where the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said in a statement that the suspect was dead but did not specify exactly what led to the death. It did not specify whether the suspect was male or female.

Three children were pronounced dead after arriving at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, John Howser, a hospital spokesperson, said in a statement, according to the local news channel WKRN-TV.

The Nashville Fire Department said on Twitter that it responded to the scene and there are "multiple patients."

Students' parents were told to gather at a nearby church.

The Covenant School, founded in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville with about 200 students, according to the school's website. The school serves preschool through 6th graders and held an active shooter training program in 2022, WTVF-TV reported.