NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) 鈥� A female student was killed and another student was wounded Wednesday in a shooting in a Nashville high school cafeteria, nearly two years after another deadly school shooting in the city that ignited an emotional debate about gun control in Tennessee.
The 17-year-old shooter, who was also a student at Antioch High School, later shot and killed himself with a handgun, Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news conference. Police identified him as Solomon Henderson.
Police Chief John Drake said the shooter 鈥渃onfronted鈥� a 16-year-old female student in the cafeteria and opened fire, killing her. Police identified her as Josselin Corea Escalante. Drake said police are looking into a motive and whether he targeted the specific students he shot.
The male student who was wounded suffered a graze and was treated and released from the hospital, Drake said. Another student was taken to a hospital for treatment of a facial injury that happened during a fall, Aaron said.
There were two school resource officers in the building when the shooting happened around 11 a.m. CDT, Aaron said. They were not in the immediate vicinity of the cafeteria and by the time they got down there the shooting was over and the gunman had killed himself, Aaron said.
The school has about 2,000 students and is located in Antioch, a neighborhood about 10 miles (16 kilometers) southeast of downtown Nashville.
At a family safety center close to a hospital, officials were helping shocked parents to reunite with their children.
Dajuan Bernard was waiting at a Mapco service station to reunite with his son, a 10th grader, who was being held in the auditorium with other students on Wednesday afternoon. He first heard of the shooting from his son who 鈥渨as a little startled,鈥� Bernard said. His son was upstairs from the cafeteria but said he heard the gunfire.
鈥淗e was OK and let me know that everything was OK,鈥� Bernard said.
鈥淭his world is so crazy, it could happen anywhere," he said. "We鈥檝e just got to protect the kids, and raise the kids right to prevent them from even doing this. That鈥檚 the hardest part.鈥�
Fonda Abner, whose granddaughter is a student at the school, said Antioch High does not have metal detectors that would alert officials to the presence of a gun. She said her granddaughter had called her a couple of times but that she only heard commotion and thought it was a pocket dial. They spoke briefly before being cut off.
鈥淚t鈥檚 nerve-wracking waiting out here,鈥� Abner said.
United Family Fellowship, a church located in Antioch, was hosting a vigil Wednesday night 鈥渇or anyone in the community who needs a space to pray, process, and find comfort,鈥� the church said on Facebook.
Adrienne Battle, superintendent of Nashville schools, said earlier Wednesday that public schools have implemented a 鈥渞ange of safety measures," including partnerships with police for school resource officers, security cameras with weapon-detection software, shatter-resistant film for glass, and security vestibules that are a barrier between outside visitors and the main entrance.
鈥淯nfortunately, these measures were not enough to stop this tragedy,鈥� Battle said.
She noted that there are questions about whether stationary metal detectors should be considered.
鈥淲hile past research has shown they have had limitations and unintended consequences, we will continue to explore emerging technologies and strategies to strengthen school safety,鈥� Battle said.
In October, a 16-year-old Antioch High School student was arrested after school resource officers and school officials discovered through social media that he had taken a gun to school the prior day. When he was stopped the following morning, officials found a loaded gun in his pants, police said.
Wednesday鈥檚 school shooting comes nearly two years after and killed six people, including three children.
The tragedy prompted a monthslong effort among hundreds of community organizers, families, protesters and many more pleading with lawmakers to consider passing gun control measures in response to the shooting.
However, in a Republican-dominant state, GOP lawmakers refused to do so. With the Republican supermajority intact after November鈥檚 election, it鈥檚 unlikely attitudes have changed enough to consider any meaningful bills that would address gun control.
Instead, lawmakers have been more open to adding more security to schools 鈥� including passing a bill last year that would , and bar parents and other teachers from knowing who was armed.
Antioch, a growing and diverse area of Nashville, has endured other prominent shootings in recent years. A at Burnette Chapel Church of Christ killed one woman and wounded seven people. And in 2018, a .
State Rep. Shaundelle Brooks ran for office in large part due to her son鈥檚 death in the Waffle House shooting and was elected last year after the Covenant shooting. She said the Antioch High shooting reinforces the need for gun control reforms. 鈥淲e must do better,鈥� she said.
鈥淓ver since I lost my son, Akilah, in a mass shooting in 2018, I have been fighting to ensure this never happens again,鈥� the Nashville Democrat said in a statement. 鈥淗ere we are almost 7 years later, and our communities are still being impacted by gun violence.鈥�
Samantha Dickerson had taken her 14-year-old son鈥檚 phone away as a punishment, so when she got a message from his school about the shooting, she had no way to reach him.
鈥淚 was nervous,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 really was about to break down.鈥�
After about three hours of waiting, she finally got a call from his English teacher and spoke with her son.
鈥淲hen I heard his voice, I just broke down and started crying,鈥� she said.
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Associated Press writers Kimberlee Kruesi in Nashville and Adrian Sainz in Memphis, Tennessee, contributed.
Kristin M. Hall, Travis Loller And Jonathan Mattise, The Associated Press
