NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities released 911 recordings on Thursday that capture the terror inside a Nashville elementary school during a mass shooting this week, as callers pleaded for help in hushed voices while sirens, crying and gunfire could be heard in the background.
Police released recordings of three emergency calls made during Monday's attack at The Covenant School, in which three children and three adults were killed.
Addie Brue, 16 and Madeline Lederman, 17, shout "do something," with other protesters Thursday as Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Cosby, Chairman of the House Republican Caucus, walks towards the House chamber doors at the State Capitol Building in Nashville, Tenn.
In one, 76-year-old retired church member Tom Pulliam tells the dispatcher he is with a group of people, including several children, who are walking away from the Christian school toward a main road. Though Pulliam remains calm, the tension and confusion of the situation are clear, with several adults speaking over each other and children's voices in the background.
Asked about how many shots were fired, a woman responds, "I heard about 10 and I left the building."
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In another call that started just before 10:13 a.m., a woman tells a dispatcher that she can hear gunshots and that she's hiding in an art room closet.
"It sounds like somebody is shooting guns," the caller says.
The dispatcher asks if she is in a safe spot and says two other callers also reported gunshots at the school.
"I think so," the woman says, as children can be heard in the background.
The teacher then says she can hear more gunshots, and muffled thuds can be heard.
"I'm hearing more shots," the caller said. "Please hurry."
Authorities said the attack ended when police shot and killed the assailant, a former student they identified as Audrey Hale, 28.
Protesters demonstrate Thursday during a rally of Rally of Parents and Kids to End Gun Violence at the State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn.
The release of the recordings came as people protested at the Tennessee Capitol on Thursday in favor of tighter gun controls, haranguing the Republican-led Legislature to take action.
Chants of "Save our children!" echoed in the hallways between the state Senate and House chambers, with protesters setting up inside and outside the building.
Some silently filled the Senate chamber's gallery, including children who held signs reading "I'm nine" — a reference to the age of the kids who died. Most protesters were removed from the gallery after some began yelling down at the lawmakers, "Children are dead!"
The protests followed a Wednesday night candlelight vigil in Nashville where Republican lawmakers stood alongside first lady Jill Biden, Democratic lawmakers and musicians including Sheryl Crow, who has called for stricter gun controls since the attack.
Guns have been the leading cause of death for kids and teenagers in the US since 2020. In 2021, guns accounted for nearly 19% of childhood deaths, roughly 3,600 kids died in gun-related incidents that year. According to KFF, firearms are not within the top four causes of childhood deaths in any other country but the US. There have been 130 mass shootings in the US so far this year, this is the highest number recorded at this point of the year since 2013. The recent school shooting in Nashville is the 16th school shooting of 2023 and the deadliest one since the shooting in Uvalde, Texas in 2022. According to a study by JAMA, child and teen mortality drastically increase during the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost half of these deaths were caused by firearms.
The vigil was somber and at times tearful, as speaker after speaker read the victims' names and offered condolences to their loved ones but refrained from any statement that could be seen as political.
"Just two days ago was our city's worst day," Mayor John Cooper said. "I so wish we weren't here, but we need to be here."
Police said Hale drove up to the school on Monday morning, shot out the glass doors, entered and began firing indiscriminately.
Absent from the vigil was Tennessee's Republican governor, Bill Lee, who has avoided public appearances this week and has not proposed any possible steps his administration might take in response to the shooting.
Lee has been an advocate for less restrictive gun laws along with greater school security, and he once intimated that prayer could protect the state from school shootings.
Protesters demonstrate Thursday during a Rally of Parents and Kids to End Gun Violence outside the State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn.
As with similar responses to gun violence, the state's Republican leaders avoided calling for tighter gun restrictions and instead have thrown their support behind bolstering school security.
In a letter to Lee, Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally called for securing windows and glass in school buildings, adding magnetic locks on doors, modernizing camera systems, and increasing armed guards.
"While these changes would come with a cost, I believe it is important for us to have a conversation about how to increase and modernize security at schools in Tennessee," wrote McNally, adding later that he also is in favor of red flag laws like one in Florida.
Tennessee State Representative Justin Jones calls on his colleagues to pass gun control legislation Thursday from the well of the House Chambers during the legislative session at the State Capitol in Nashville, Tenn.
Meanwhile, Tennessee's U.S. senators, Republicans Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, pushed for legislation that would create a $900 million grant program to "harden" schools and hire safety officers.
Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said the shooter drew a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance before carrying out the attack.
Drake also said Hale left behind writings that the chief referred to as a "manifesto," but authorities haven't released the writings to the public.
Police have said Hale was under a doctor's care for an undisclosed "emotional disorder." However, authorities haven't disclosed a link between that care and the shooting. Police also said Hale was not on their radar before the attack.
