Teachers can be heard shushing their crying students in 911 calls to Nashville police as a shooter opened fire in their school
John Amis/AP
- Sobbing children can be heard in the background of 911 calls to Nashville police during Monday's shooting.
- One student told his teacher he wanted to "go home" between sobs.
- Three students and three faculty members were shot an killed Monday when a former student opened fire.
Teachers can be heard shushing their crying students in the background of 911 calls made to the Nashville police while a shooter opened fire in The Covenant School on Monday.
Three calls to 911 calls within minutes of each other on Monday morning obtained by the Tennessean reveal teachers begging emergency call operators for help as their students can be heard crying and asking questions in the background.
The first call came in at 10:12 a.m. local time from a man who was walking with a group of other teachers and students. Voices of the kids and teachers can be heard in the background as the man tries to locate the address of the school for the 911 call operator.
"A teacher just said there is an active shooter here," a voice in the background of the call says. A group of adults offer information in the background while the phone is on speakerphone.
One of the other teachers on the call said he saw "a man holding an assault rifle shooting through the doors." He was able to provide a more exact location and a description of the shooter for emergency responders. A woman then came on the line, saying she heard "about 10" shot before she fled the building.
"We need somebody now," she reiterated to the operator, adding that she was walking with a group of six pre-schoolers who can be heard crying, coughing, and talking in the background of the call.
Just before hanging up, an adult says they "need to get the children in the car."
Seconds later, another 911 call was made from the school.
A female teacher on the phone whispered while explaining the emergency to the 911 responder.
"We think we hear gunshots," she said. "It sounds like somebody is shooting guns."
A child sobs in the background of the call as the teacher shushes and comforts the crying student. Others can be heard speaking in the background.
"I want to go home," one child says between sobs.
She later told the operator that she heard more shots being fired, and then reassured her students by telling them to "be quiet."
A third call came in from a man who said he was hiding on the second floor of the building. He added that he thought the shooter was on the second floor.
He told the operator he did not know what the shooter looked like and did not know if anyone was injured, but asked them to "send somebody if you could," while repeating the school's address. Alarms blared in the background of the call.
Three students and three adult faculty members were killed when a 28-year-old shooter opened fire in the Covenant School on Monday.
The shooter was reportedly a former student of the school, police said, though they did not disclose a motive for the shooting.