By KIMBERLEE KRUESI and TRAVIS LOLLER
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Hundreds of people protested at the Tennessee Capitol on Thursday in favor of tighter gun controls, haranguing the Republican-led Legislature to take action following this week’s mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville in which three children and three adults were killed.
Chants of “Save our children!” echoed noisily in the hallways between the state Senate and House chambers, with protesters setting up shop inside and outside the Capitol. Some silently filled the Senate chamber’s gallery, including children who held signs reading “I’m nine” — a reference to the age of the three kids who died in Monday’s attack at The Covenant School. Most protesters were removed from the gallery after some began yelling down at the lawmakers, “Children are dead!”
Meanwhile, in the House, two Democratic lawmakers caused a temporary shutdown when they began yelling, “Power to the people” through a megaphone.
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.
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. The family of Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian who was among those killed, was in attendance, including his seven children.
Addie Brue, 16 and Madeline Lederman, 17, shout “do something,” with other protesters 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., Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
Protesters fill the capitol building as representatives make their way towards the House chamber doors at the State Capitol Building in Nashville , Tenn., Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
Protesters fill the capitol building as representatives make their way towards the House chamber doors at the State Capitol Building in Nashville , Tenn., Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
Protesters fill the capitol building as representatives make their way towards the House chamber doors at the State Capitol Building in Nashville , Tenn., Thursday, March 30, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
A cross stands above the crowd during a vigil held for victims of The Covenant School shooting on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
A crowd gathers outside the courthouse and City Hall for a vigil held for victims of The Covenant School shooting on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
A lady holds a candle during a vigil held for victims of The Covenant School shooting on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
A group of women pray at a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
A woman wipes away tears as she visits a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Dan Beazley from Michigan walks with a cross before a vigil held for victims of The Covenant School shooting on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
First lady Dr. Jill Biden, center, talks with Mayor John Cooper and Nashville Fire Chief William Swann during the Nashville Remembers candlelight vigil to mourn and honor the victims of The Covenant School mass shooting at Public Square Park Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
A mourner wipes away a tear during the Nashville Remembers candlelight vigil to mourn and honor the victims of The Covenant School mass shooting at Public Square Park Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
Mourners light candles during the Nashville Remembers candlelight vigil to mourn and honor the victims of The Covenant School mass shooting at Public Square Park Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
First lady Dr. Jill Biden attends the Nashville Remembers candlelight vigil to mourn and honor the victims of The Covenant School mass shooting at Public Square Park Wednesday, March 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
Two women hug at a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Fitzgerald Moore leads a group in prayer at a memorial at the entrance to the Covenant School on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Fitzgerald Moore leads a group in prayer at a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Nashville mayor John Cooper pauses during a vigil held for victims of The Covenant School shooting on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Chief John Drake of the Metro Nashville Police Department speaks during a vigil held for victims of The Covenant School shooting on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
First lady Dr. Jill Biden listens to Nashville mayor John Cooper during a vigil held for victims of The Covenant School shooting on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
FILE – In this Nov. 5, 2018 file photo, Melissa Joan Hart arrives at the Los Angeles premiere of “Ralph Breaks the Internet.” Hart says she helped a class of kindergartners that was fleeing the school shooting in Nashville earlier this week. Hart said in a video posted on Instagram Tuesday that she and her husband were headed to her kids’ school conferences Monday when they helped some students get away from the shooting that killed six people. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
This photo provided by a spokesperson for the family of Katherine Koonce shows Koonce, head of The Covenant School. Koonce was one of six people killed on Monday, March 27, 2023, in the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. (Family of Katherine Koonce via AP)
This undated handout photo shows Evelyn Dieckhaus a student at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. Dieckhaus was one of six people killed on Monday, March 27, 2023, in the shooting at the school. (Handout via AP)
This photo provided by The Covenant School shows Katherine Koonce, head of The Covenant School. Koonce was one of six people killed on Monday, March 27, 2023, in the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. (The Covenant School via AP)
Montgomery Bell Academy student Ethan Durham grieves at a makeshift memorial by the entrance of the Covenant School, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean via AP)
Former Covenant School students Ashley Crafton, top left, and Josephine Horn comfort their former six grade teacher, Lisa Horn, right, at a makeshift memorial by the entrance of the Covenant School, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean via AP)
A message to the school is one of many at a memorial for victims at an entry to Covenant School, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn., following a fatal shooting a day earlier. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Students at a nearby school pay respects at a memorial for the people who were killed, at an entry to Covenant School, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Six people were killed at the private school and church yesterday by a shooter. (AP Photo/John Amis)
A family gathers to pay respects at an entry to Covenant School, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn., which has become a memorial to the victims of Monday’s school shooting. (AP Photo/John Amis)
People console each other at an entry to Covenant School, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn., which has become a memorial to the victims of Monday’s school shooting. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Alexander Reddy, 17, kneels and prays at a cross after leaving flowers at an entry to Covenant School, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn., which has become a memorial for the victims of Monday’s school shooting. (AP Photo/John Amis)
This undated image provided by the family of Cynthia Peak, shows Cynthia Peak, a substitute teacher at The Covenant School in Nashville. Friends described her as a loving friend and natural teacher. She and five others were killed during a shooting at the school on Monday, March 27, 2023. (Family of Cynthia Peak via AP)
A woman leaves flowers at a growing memorial, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, at an entry to Covenant School for the victims of Monday’ shooting. (AP Photo/John Amis)
A young girl places an item at a growing memorial,Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, at an entry to Covenant School for the victims of Monday’ shooting. (AP Photo/John Amis)
This photo provided by the family of Michael Hill in March 2023 shows Adriene Joy Hill, left, with Michael Hill. Michael Hill was one of six people killed on Monday, March 27, 2023, in the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. (Family photo via AP)
This photo provided by the family of Michael Hill in March 2023 shows, from left, Tawana Smith-Garner, Brittany Hill, Michael Hill, Shakita Dobbins and Ebony Smith. Michael Hill was one of six people killed on Monday, March 27, 2023, in the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn. (Family photo via AP)
Robin Wolfeden prays in front of a makeshift memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Three children and three school staff members were killed by a former student in Monday’s mass shooting. (Mark Zaleski /The Tennessean via AP)
An entry to Covenant School becomes also a memorial for shooting victims, Tuesday, March 28, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Amis)
This image provided by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shows bodycam footage of police responding to an active shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, March 27, 2023. The former student who shot through the doors of the Christian elementary school and killed three children and three adults had drawn a detailed map of the school. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department via AP)
This image provided by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shows bodycam footage of police responding to an active shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, March 27, 2023. The former student who shot through the doors of the Christian elementary school and killed three children and three adults had drawn a detailed map of the school. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department via AP)
This image provided by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shows bodycam footage of police responding to an active shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, March 27, 2023. The former student who shot through the doors of the Christian elementary school and killed three children and three adults had drawn a detailed map of the school. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department via AP)
This image provided by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shows bodycam footage of police responding to an active shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, March 27, 2023. The former student who shot through the doors of the Christian elementary school and killed three children and three adults had drawn a detailed map of the school. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department via AP)
This image provided by Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shows bodycam footage of police responding to an active shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday, March 27, 2023. The former student who shot through the doors of the Christian elementary school and killed three children and three adults had drawn a detailed map of the school. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department via AP)
Two girls hug at a prayer vigil at Woodmont Christian Church for victims of a mass shooting at Covenant School on Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean via AP)
Parishioners participate in a community vigil at Belmont United Methodist Church in the aftermath of a school shooting in Nashville, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Nashville police identified the victims in the private Christian school shooting Monday as three 9-year-old students and three adults in their 60s, including the head of the school. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Students from The Covenant School get off a bus to meet their parents at the reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. following a mass shooting at their school. (Mark Zaleski/The Tennessean via AP)
Metro Nashville Police and federal law enforcement agencies search and investigate a house in the 3000 block of Brightwood Ave. following a mass shooting at Covenant School, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. The shooter was killed by police on the scene. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
Metro Nashville Police and FBI search and investigate a house in the 3000 block of Brightwood Ave. following a mass shooting at Covenant School, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. The shooter was killed by police on the scene. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
A woman kisses a child at the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church after a school shooting, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Families leave a reunification site in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023 after several children were killed in a shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. The suspect is dead after a confrontation with police. (AP Photo/John Amis)
A family leave a reunification site in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023 after several children were killed in a shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. The suspect is dead after a confrontation with police. (AP Photo/John Amis)
Children and a man depart the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church after a school shooting, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Children and a woman depart the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church after a school shooting, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake speaks to the media following a mass shooting at Covenant School, Monday, March 27, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn. The shooter was killed by police on the scene. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)
A family leaves with their children from a reunification site in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023. Officials say several children were killed in a shooting at Covenant School in Nashville. The suspect is dead after a confrontation with police. (AP Photo/John Amis)
A child weeps while on the bus leaving The Covenant School following a mass shooting at the school in Nashville, Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023. (Nicole Hester/The Tennessean via AP)
Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school, on Monday, March, 27, 2023. (George Uribe via AP)
Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school, on Monday March, 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Jonathan Mattise)
This photo provided by the Metro Nashville Police Department shows officers at an active shooter event that took place at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, in Nashville, Tenn. Monday, March 27, 2023. Authorities say the suspect in a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville is dead. (Metro Nashville Police Department via AP)
“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.”
In attendance was Shaundelle Brooks, whose 23-year-old son, Akilah Dasilva, was among the four people killed in a 2018 shooting at a Nashville Waffle House. Brooks said she went to the vigil to support the families of those killed at the school.
“I know what it’s like to be a parent — what it feels like, like you’re drowning and can’t move, and that weakness and that hole that comes in your stomach,” she said.
Police have said a 28-year-old former student, whom they identified as Audrey Hale, drove up to the school on Monday morning, shot out the glass doors, entered and began firing indiscriminately. Police later fatally shot Hale.
Among those killed were the three 9-year-old students, Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney; Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school; substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61; and Hill.
Absent from the Wednesday vigil was Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee, who has been an advocate for less restrictive gun laws along with greater school security and once intimated that prayer could protect Tennessee from school shootings and other things.
Lee issued a video statement Tuesday saying that Peak was a close friend of his wife, Maria, and that the two had been planning to meet for dinner on Monday.
“Maria woke up this morning without one of her best friends,” Lee said in a video statement, adding that his wife once taught with Peak and Koonce. The women, he said, “have been family friends for decades.”
Lee has avoided public appearances this week and has not proposed any possible steps his administration might take in response to the school shooting.
As with similar responses to gun violence, the state’s Republican leaders have avoided calling for tighter gun restrictions and instead have thrown their support behind adding more school security measures.
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,” McNally wrote.
Along with improving school safety measures, McNally told reporters Thursday that he is in favor of red flag laws like one in Florida.
Meanwhile, Tennessee’s U.S. senators, Republicans Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, were pushing for legislation that would create a $900 million grant program to “harden” schools and hire safety officers.
Blackburn and Hagerty said Thursday that they would introduce the SAFE School Act, which would help public and private schools train military veterans and former law enforcement officers to provide security. They said the grants could also be used to bolster physical security measures. Blackburn introduced similar legislation in the last Congress, but it failed to gain support.
“No parent should have to endure what these families are experiencing,” Blackburn said in a statement. “By providing these critical funds, we can help protect our precious children and secure our schools.”
Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake has not said what police think the shooter’s motive was, only noting that the assailant didn’t target specific victims and had “some resentment for having to go to that school.”
Drake said the shooter had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance of the building 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.
Social media accounts and other sources indicate that the shooter identified as a man and might have recently begun using the first name Aiden. Police have said Hale “was assigned female at birth” but used masculine pronouns on a social media profile, however police have continued to use female pronouns and the name Audrey to describe Hale.