Alright fellow crime lovers, today's case file is, “The Nashville Six (6) - School Shooting in the Capital of Country Music.” Please be advised that you will hear actual footage and viewer discretion is advised. As many of you have heard, an active shooter walked into the Covenant Presbyterian Church where they took the lives of six unsuspecting individuals that included three adults and three children.
An Active Shooting (also called a “Mass Shooting) is defined by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as, and event in which one or more individuals are “actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area.” Implicit in this definition is the shooter’s use of a firearm. Though the FBI has not set a minimum number of casualties to qualify an event as a mass shooting, U.S. statute (the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act of 2012) defines a “mass killing” as “3 or more killings in a single incident.”
I want to start by sharing some key 2023 numbers with you (none of which include the killer(s)).
139 - this is the number of Mass Shooting attempts that have occurred to date
23 - this is the number of Mass Shooting Events that ended in three or more deaths
13 - this is the number of school shootings that occurred
13 - thats how many people were injured in a school shooting
10 - thats how many people (6 children and 4 adults) lost their lives in a school shooting
6 - thats how many lives were taken at the Covenant Presbyterian Church K-12 Private School in the Capital of Country Music‘s Nashville, TN
Monday, March 27th started like every other Monday for the last 14 years for Mike Hill, the custodian for Covenant Presbyterian Church and K-12 Private School. He smiled his larger than life smile and waved as the kids walked in, and began his day preparing to carry his vacuum cleaner up to the Sanctuary like he had done countless Monday’s before this one. His thoughts could have been on one of his seven children, or maybe one of his fourteen grandchildren. He loved to cook and spend time with family, so he may have been thinking about what he planned to cook for dinner when the shots reverberated through the quiet of the day, shattering the glass door. They called him Big Mike and he was a force to be reckoned with, but he would be the first of the six to fall.
Katherine Koonce was on a Zoom call in her office when she heard the first shots and the sound of breaking glass. She recognized it immediately. She had been a big advocate of Mass Shooter training and knew her staff was equipment to deal with anything that threatened her campus. She quickly dropped from the call, but she didn’t hide and she didn’t run. She walked out and met the shooter in the hallway where it is believed she attempted to engage the shooter directly. It was in her nature to be steadfast and be a protector of children. Covie, the unofficial school mascot that affectionately greeted the children daily, remained safely behind in her office. Covey would never see Katherine again.
It is unknown where the shooter encountered Cindy Peak, but those who knew the substitute teacher, knew that she had a passion for teaching and caring for children. Her last thoughts were most likely about her own three kids and her husband Chris, who would later state that he knew without a shadow of doubt that Cindy died protecting the children.
The three children who started their day as normal 9-year-old children often do…with a joyous spirit to learn and an innocence that would be memorialized in them forever at such a young age, could never understand how tragedy would devastate the community in the minutes, hours and days to come. All three were pronounced dead on arrival as they arrived at the hospital in ambulances. The doctors, helpless. The damage, catastrophic
Funeral / Service - April 4, 2023 - Mike Hill was just 61 years old (My father is 77!)
- 100’s of Family, Friends, Co-Workers, Students, and members of the church were in attendance.
- Pastor Jim Bachmann who presided over the service at Stephens Valley Church shared a beautiful sentiment, “He hugged my kids , and he knew them by name," Bachmann said. "As the first victim — maybe this is a sentimental thought, but it's a comfort to me to think that Mike was there to welcome the children through the pearly gates."
- One of the few African American Church Members / Friends w/ Pastor who previously founded the Covenant Presbyterian Church, where the school was located.
Mrs. Koontz or Katherine who was 59 (just 9 years older than me) is believed to have been the second of the Nashville six to fall. Her body was positioned in the hallway where she laid in a way that led investigators to believe that a confrontation or struggle had ensued between herself and the shooter. Her services were also held on April 4, 2023.
She was a “go getter” and a “servant.” Despite being married, having two children, and making several big moves, she continued to learn and grow personally and professionally. She obtained a Doctorate. In her short tenure at the school she expanded enrollment selectively by a third, upgraded athletic and arts programs and playground facilities, instilled high levels of professionalism and advancement for faculty, expanded new student programs including robotics and coding, implemented leadership roles for 5th and 6th grade students, and created school-based parent seminars for the Nashville community.
Christian music artist Stevis Curtis Chapman who lost a child when one ran over the other said, “this incredible woman walked by my side trough the darkest time of my life and was a mentor and friend.”
This had to have slowed her movements if even by minutes (which are critical in an incident such as this).
