Nashville Artists Speak Out After Local School Shooting: ‘Praying for These Babies & Their Families’

Several Nashville musicians have spoken out after six people, including three students and three adult staff members, were killed during a school shooting on Monday (March 27) at The Covenant School in Nashville.

A 28-year-old suspect was killed during an altercation with police. The Metro Nashville PD’s official Twitter account revealed that the six victims fatally shot by the active shooter at Covenant School were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9; Cynthia Peak, age 61; Katherine Koonce, age 60; and Mike Hill, age 61. Koonce is listed as the head of School on The Covenant School’s official website.

Nashville musicians spoke out in grief and anger. Singer-songwriter-musician Charlie Worsham wrote via his Instagram Stories, “It seems impossible to find fitting words to say about the shooting in Nashville today. I’m heartbroken and enraged that we can’t seem to provide the simplest, most common-sense safeguards for our own children. If this was something other than a gun problem, it’d be happening all over the world. But it only seems to happen here.”

Kelsea Ballerini, who has previously spoken with Billboard about her own experience surviving a school shooting when she was a high school sophomore, shared via Instagram Stories, “i’m heartbroken i’m triggered i’m angry and i’m terrified for the loss we continue to have in this country due to guns. three f**king kids. what are we doing.”

Contemporary Christian singer Natalie Grant shared a news story about the incident via her Instagram Stories, adding, “I posted this earlier and then deleted it because I had been told people were only injured. I’m so heartbroken and devastated to realize not only was the original report true, but that more are dead, including three children. Several injured. This story is tragically repeated over and over and over again. Only today it hits very close to home. Jesus be near.”

Via Instagram Stories, Maren Morris shared a tweet from the Nashville Fire Department that shared details of the incident, simply commenting, “Oh my god,” accompanied by a broken-heart emoji.

Several artists, including Jason Isbell and Sheryl Crow, addressed Tennessee officials, with Isbell quote-tweeting Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, after Lee tweeted that he is “closely monitoring the tragic situation at Covenant.” Isbell responded, “Is this what we want? Monitoring the ‘tragic situation’ and asking for prayers? Something can be done Bill you just don’t have the spine for it. This must be what you want, because you haven’t done anything to prevent it.”

After Senator Marsha Blackburn sent out a tweet saying that her office was “ready to assist” federal, state and local officials, Crow responded, “If you are ready to assist, please pass sensible gun laws so that the children of Tennessee and America at large might attend school without risk of being gunned down.”

Rosanne Cash also responded to Blackburn’s tweet, saying, “Don’t even. You vote against every common sense gun control bill that comes across your desk, you’ve taken over $1 million from the NRA, and you rank 14th in all Congress for NRA contributions. Spare us the handwringing @marshablackburn”

Shortly after news of the school shooting broke, Margo Price addressed Lee, saying, “4 dead so far in an elementary school shooting in Nashville this am. Can I ask you, @GovBillLee why you passed permit less [sic] carry in 2021? Our children are dying and being shot in school but you’re more worried about drag queens than smart gun laws? You have blood on your hands.”

See several of the responses from Nashville music artists below:

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