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Nashville school massacre: Democratic lawmaker charges ‘blood of these children is on my colleagues’ hands’

Staff Photo by Andy Sher / State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, joins fellow Democrats at the Tennessee Capitol on Monday in criticizing Republican majority members in the wake of a deadly shooting at a Nashville school earlier in the day in which three children and three employees were shot and killed. Speaking at right is Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville.
Staff Photo by Andy Sher / State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, joins fellow Democrats at the Tennessee Capitol on Monday in criticizing Republican majority members in the wake of a deadly shooting at a Nashville school earlier in the day in which three children and three employees were shot and killed. Speaking at right is Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville. Staff Photo by Andy Sher / State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, joins fellow Democrats at the Tennessee Capitol on Monday in criticizing Republican majority members in the wake of a deadly shooting at a Nashville school earlier in the day in which three children and three employees were shot and killed. Speaking at right is Sen. Charlane Oliver, D-Nashville.

By Andy Sher 5 min read

NASHVILLE — Political shock waves from the shooting deaths of three children and three employees at a church-run school Monday in Nashville quickly hit the Tennessee Capitol as Democrats criticized the relaxation of state firearms laws by Gov. Bill Lee and his fellow Republicans.

“The blood of these children is on my colleagues’ hands,” Senate Democratic Caucus Chairwoman London Lamar of Memphis told state Capitol reporters at a news conference. “They have contributed to the increase of gun violence in this state. We have one of the highest rates of gun violence in the country.

“And now we just added seven more people to that number,” Lamar said, including the 28-year-old shooter who Metro Nashville police say fatally shot three 9-nine-year-olds as well as the headmistress, a substitute teacher and a custodian at Covenant School in the Green Hills section of Nashville. “I’m sick of y’all’s ‘prayers.'”

Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters that responding officers engaged the attacker, identified as Audrey Hale, a former student at the school.

Republicans showed little interest in discussing either existing law or pending legislation that includes a bill lowering the age for Tennesseans to carry firearms from 21 to 18. The House version of the measure, House Bill 1005, also contains a provision allowing Tennesseans to carry long guns, including semi-automatic firearms.