Nashville school shooting victims identified

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nashville police have identified the victims in the private Christian school shooting Monday that left three 9-year-old students and three adults in their 60s dead. 

The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old, and adults Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.

They were killed when a 28-year-old female wielding two "assault-style" rifles and a pistol opened fire Monday at The Covenant School in Nashville. The suspect, who was killed by police, is believed to be a former student of the school.

The website of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school founded in 2001, lists Koonce as the head of the school.

Students, staff killed in Nashville school shooting

At noon local time, the Metro Nashville Police Department confirmed an "active shooter event" on Twitter, while the fire department said it responded to an "active aggressor" but did not give any specifics. 

Nashville’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) also said it was responding to the scene. 

Students were seen walking to safety Monday, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby Woodmont Baptist Church to reunite with their parents.

RELATED: Nashville school shooting: 3 students, 3 adults killed by female suspect, police say

The killings come as communities around the nation are reeling from a spate of school violence, including the massacre at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, last year; a first grader who shot his teacher in Virginia; and a shooting last week in Denver that wounded two administrators.

This story was reported from Los Angeles. The Associated Press contributed.