Three children and three staff have been shot dead at a school in the United States. The pupils who died at the Covenant School in Nashville were all just nine years old. The attacker was Audrey Hale, a 28-year old transgender ex-pupil, who was armed with three guns, including a semi-automatic rifle. Hale was shot dead by police during the incident yesterday morning.
America’s tragedy is that such appalling incidents just keep happening. Only last week, a 17 year-old wounded two support staff at a high school in Denver; in February, three students were fatally shot at Michigan State University; in January, two teenagers were killed in a ‘targeted shooting’ at an educational institute in Des Moins.
Local police chief John Drake said ‘resentment’ at attending the school might have played a role in the attack
But this latest atrocity in Tennessee has made headlines, even in the UK, amid speculation over Hale’s gender identity and whether it may have been a significant factor.
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