At 10:10 a.m. on Monday, March 27, 2023, a 28-year-old suspect shot through the glass doors of The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, entered the once-secure building and opened fire while walking through. Five officers arrived on the scene three minutes later, killing the attacker within 17 minutes of the initial entry.
Unfortunately, the lives of six innocent victims had already been lost—three of whom were 9-year-old children and the other three adults.
The suspect had two semiautomatic rifles and a handgun during the attack. Upon doing a home search, police located more weapons, also finding written statements indicating that this mass shooting was planned. The shooter was a former student at the private Christian school, but it has not been revealed what instigated this attack.
What Do We Know About This Shooter?
When this active shooter event first occurred, the shooter was described as a “young female teenager.” Then the description changed to a 28-year-old woman. A third description has now been released, which is that the active shooter was a transgender male. This information is said to be collected from the shooter’s social media accounts.
Does that make this the first active shooter incident conducted by a transgender person? It might.
The FBI conducted a review of all active shooter incidents occurring between 2000 and 2019. During this time, there were 333 incidents with a total of 345 shooters. Of the 345 shooters, 332 were male and 13 were female.
The FBI also did a breakdown of active shooter incidents in 2021. That year, there were 61 events. Of the shooters, 61 were male and 1 was female. Data has not yet been provided for 2022.
Based on the research, it does appear that this may be the first active shooting incident involving a transgender suspect. This reinforces the notion that, although some attackers fall outside the norm—whether in terms of gender or some other aspect—the consequences can be just as deadly.
If you’d like to learn how to best protect yourself in these types of incidents, A.L.I.V.E. offers active shooter training courses in Tennessee, as well as in all other states and even international locations. You can also take our online active shooter survival courses, enabling you to learn the five critical steps to surviving an active shooter incident from the comfort of your home.
Sources: NBC News, The Guardian, FBI Active Shooter Incidents 20-Year Review, Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2021
