Police say a 17-year-old south of Nashville opened fire in a high school cafeteria, killing one person and wounding two others.
Police in Nashville, Tennessee, say a 17-year-old boy is suspected of shooting and killing a high school girl before killing himself.
Wednesday's shooting at Antioch High School in the southern United States injured two others.
“I have been informed of what happened at Antioch High School and I am grateful for the law enforcement and emergency responders who responded quickly and continue to investigate,” Governor Bill Lee said in a press release. post. “As we wait for more, I join Tennesseans in praying for the victims, their families and the school.”
Metro Nashville Police (MNPD) spokesman Don Aaron said at a news conference that the injured are being treated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
UPDATE: A shooting is under investigation at Antioch High School. Three people were injured, including the suspect who shot himself. The parent contact center is 3754 M'boro Pk. Buses will take students there. pic.twitter.com/G5UypO7neP
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) January 22, 2025
Parents were told not to come to the school, which is located 16 kilometers (10 miles) southeast of Nashville. Instead, they were advised to take their loved ones to the nearest hospital.
Gun violence continues in the US, with school shootings a a persistent example.
A database kept by The Washington Post shows that, as of December, there have been 426 school shootings in the US since 1999, when two gunmen opened fire at Columbine High School.
They killed 15 people, including themselves, in what was the school's deadliest mass shooting to date.
Other high school shootings have occurred in the century since, including the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut that claimed 26 lives, including 20 children and six staff members.
The MNPD said Wednesday's attack began at 11:09am (17:09 GMT). The suspect fired multiple shots in the school cafeteria before shooting himself in the head. In addition to the girl who was killed in the attack, another student was injured and another was eaten by hand.
Aaron, the police spokesman, said two officers from the school were on the scene but were on the other side of the building when the shooting began. When he arrived at the scene, the shooting was over and the suspected assailant was dead.
In a statement later, President Donald Trump offered his condolences to the families and survivors of the victims.
“The president and his team are controlling the news in Nashville,” he said. “Increasingly, the White House offers its heartfelt thoughts and prayers to those affected by this senseless tragedy and thanks those who responded courageously in response to what happened.”
This is not the first time in recent years that the Nashville area has faced such threats.
In March 2023, the attacker He killed three children, all aged nine, and three adults at a Christian primary school called The Covenant School.
In response, the Tennessee legislature passed a law allowing teachers and other staff to carry concealed weapons in public schools, though critics question whether that would work, in the face of the state's gun liberalization.