NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) 鈥� Authorities released 911 recordings on Thursday that capture the this week, as callers pleaded for help in hushed voices while sirens, crying and gunfire could be heard in the background.
Police released recordings of three 911 calls made during Monday's attack at The Covenant School, in which .
In one, a man tells the dispatcher he is with a group of people, including several children, who are walking away from the Christian school toward a main road. Although the man remains calm, the tension and confusion of the situation are clear, with several adults speaking over each other and children鈥檚 voices in the background.
When the dispatcher requests a description of the shooter, the caller asks a second man to get on the line.
鈥淎ll I saw was a man holding an assault rifle shooting through the door. It was 鈥� he鈥檚 currently in the second grade hallway, upstairs鈥� the second man says, noting the assailant was dressed in camouflage and wearing a vest.
Asked about how many shots were fired, a woman responds, 鈥淚 heard about 10 and I left the building.鈥�
In another call that started just before 10:13 a.m., a woman tells a dispatcher that she can hear gunshots and that she's hiding in an art room closet.
鈥淚t sounds like somebody is shooting guns,鈥� the caller says. She then notes that there had been a pause in the gunshots.
The dispatcher asks if she is in a safe spot and says two other callers also reported gunshots at the school.
鈥淚 think so,鈥� the woman says, as children can be heard in the background.
The teacher then says she can hear more gunshots, and muffled thuds can be heard.
鈥淚鈥檓 hearing more shots,鈥� the caller said. 鈥淧lease hurry.鈥�
Another caller says he is in a second-floor room and asks the dispatcher to send help.
鈥淚 think we have a shooter at our church,鈥� he says, later adding: 鈥淚鈥檓 on the second floor in a room. I think the shooter is on the second floor.鈥�
Authorities say the attack ended when police shot and killed the assailant, a former student they identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale.
The release of the recordings came as people protested at the Tennessee Capitol on Thursday in favor of tighter gun controls, haranguing the Republican-led Legislature to take action.
Chants of 鈥淪ave our children!鈥� echoed noisily in the hallways between the state Senate and House chambers, with protesters setting up shop inside and outside the building. Some silently filled the Senate chamber's gallery, including children who held signs reading 鈥淚'm nine鈥� 鈥� a reference to who died. Most protesters were removed from the gallery after some began yelling down at the lawmakers, 鈥淐hildren are dead!鈥�
The protests followed a Wednesday night candlelight vigil in Nashville where Republican lawmakers , Democratic lawmakers and musicians including Sheryl Crow, who has called for stricter gun controls since the attack.
The vigil was somber and at times tearful, as speaker after speaker read the victims' names and offered condolences to their loved ones but refrained from any statement that could be seen as political.
鈥淛ust two days ago was our city鈥檚 worst day,鈥� Mayor John Cooper said. 鈥淚 so wish we weren鈥檛 here, but we need to be here.鈥�
Police said Hale drove up to the school on Monday morning, shot out the glass doors, entered and .
The three students who were killed were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. The three adults were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian.
Funeral plans were taking shape Thursday, with the school announcing that services would be held Saturday for Hallie.
Absent from the vigil was Tennessee's Republican governor, Bill Lee, who has avoided public appearances this week and has not proposed any possible steps his administration might take in response to the shooting. Lee has been an advocate for along with greater school security, and he once intimated that prayer could protect the state from school shootings and other things.
As with similar responses to gun violence, the state鈥檚 Republican leaders have avoided calling for tighter gun restrictions and instead have thrown their support behind adding more school security measures.
In a letter to Lee, Republican Lt. Gov. Randy McNally called for securing windows and glass in school buildings, adding magnetic locks on doors, modernizing camera systems, and increasing armed guards.
鈥淲hile these changes would come with a cost, I believe it is important for us to have a conversation about how to increase and modernize security at schools in Tennessee,鈥� McNally wrote.
Along with improving school safety measures, McNally told reporters Thursday that he is in favor of .
Meanwhile, Tennessee鈥檚 U.S. senators, Republicans Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty, were pushing for legislation that would create a $900 million grant program to 鈥渉arden鈥� schools and hire safety officers.
Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake has not said what investigators think the shooter鈥檚 motive was, only noting that the assailant didn't target specific victims and had 鈥渟ome resentment for having to go to that school.鈥�
Drake said the shooter had , including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance before carrying out the attack. Drake also said Hale left behind writings that the chief referred to as a 鈥渕anifesto,鈥� but authorities haven't released the writings to the public.
Police have said Hale was under a doctor鈥檚 care for an undisclosed 鈥渆motional disorder.鈥� However, authorities haven't disclosed a link between that care and the shooting. Police also said Hale was not on their radar before the attack.
Social media accounts and other sources indicate that the shooter identified as a man and might have recently begun using the first name Aiden. Police have said Hale 鈥渨as assigned female at birth鈥� but used masculine pronouns on a social media profile, however police have continued to use female pronouns and the name Audrey to describe Hale.
Kimberlee Kruesi And Travis Loller, The Associated Press
