Shooter, 17, identified after 2 students shot inside high school and gunman turned gun on himself

22 January 2025, 22:45

The gunman who shot two students in a school shooting inside a Tennessee high school on Wednesday has been identified.

Earlier today, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department confirmed two students were shot by another student in the cafeteria of a school.

The 17-year-old shooter, who was also a student at Antioch High School in Nashville, later shot and killed himself with a handgun, Metro Nashville Police spokesman Don Aaron said during a news conference.

Police identified the gunman as Solomon Henderson.

Police Chief John Drake said the shooter "confronted" a 16-year-old female student, identified as Josselin Corea Escalante, in the cafeteria and opened fire, killing her.

The male student who was wounded suffered a graze, and was treated and released from the hospital, Mr Drake said.

Another student was taken to a hospital for treatment of a facial injury that happened during a fall, Mr Aaron said.

There were two school resource officers in the building when the shooting happened on Wednesday morning, Mr 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, Mr Aaron said.

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The school has about 2,000 students and is located in Antioch, a neighbourhood about 10 miles (16 kilometres) south-east of downtown Nashville.

At a family safety centre 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, who was being held in the auditorium with other students on Wednesday afternoon.

He first heard of the shooting from his son who "was a little startled", Mr Bernard said. His son was upstairs from the cafeteria but said he heard the gunfire.

"He was OK and let me know that everything was OK," Mr Bernard said.

"This world is so crazy, it could happen anywhere," he said.

"We've just got to protect the kids, and raise the kids right to prevent them from even doing this. That's the hardest part."

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.

"It's nerve-wracking waiting out here," Ms Abner said.

Adrienne Battle, superintendent of Nashville schools, said public schools have implemented a "range 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.

"Unfortunately, these measures were not enough to stop this tragedy," Ms Battle said.

She noted that there are questions about whether stationary metal detectors should be considered.

"While past research has shown they have had limitations and unintended consequences, we will continue to explore emerging technologies and strategies to strengthen school safety," Ms Battle said.

Wednesday's school shooting comes nearly two years after a shooter opened fire at a separate Nashville private elementary school and killed six people, including three children.

The tragedy prompted a months-long effort among hundreds of community organisers, families, protesters and many more pleading with legislators to consider passing gun control measures in response to the shooting.

However, in a Republican-dominant state, legislators refused to do so.

With the Republican supermajority intact after November's election, it is unlikely attitudes have changed enough to consider any meaningful bills that would address gun control.