Evelyn Dieckhaus, nine, one of the victims of Monday’s horrific Nashville school shooting, was killed while leading her classmates to safety in response to a fire alarm seemingly tripped by the attacker, her family believes.
Her aunt, Kelly Dorrance, wrote in an private Instagram post since provided to a media outlet: “She was trying to lead her classmates to safety and possibly didn’t hear the shouts to come back in the room. Things children should never worry about.”
Evelyn’s funeral is set to take place on Friday as the Tennessee city comes together to mourn its dead.
Services for substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and Hallie Scruggs, nine, will be held on Saturday. Nine-year-old William Kinney's funeral will take place on Sunday, while services for Mike Hill, 61, the school’s custodian, will be held on Tuesday and the funeral for head of school Katherine Koonce, 60, will take place on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, police have released the chilling 911 calls they received from inside the Covenant School as the shooter – since identified by law enforcement as Audrey Hale, 28, a former student of the private Christian elementary school – broke into the building and opened fire.
A manifesto written by the suspect is soon expected to released by officers investigating the deadly attack.
No motive has yet been established but on Wednesday it emerged that Hale had previously posted on Facebook about the death of a romantic partner, according to a former teacher, offering one possible clue. Friends have since suggested the suspect was “infatuated” with a classmate who was killed in a traffic accident last summer and struggled to come to terms with their grief.
On Thursday, hundreds of protesters flooded the Tennessee State Capitol demanding lawmakers take action on gun control in the wake of the tragedy.
