- Title: 'We are bewildered' - mourners hold vigil near Nashville for shooting victims
- Date: 29th March 2023
- Summary: MT. JULIET, TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES (MARCH 28, 2023) (Reuters) BAGPIPER PLAYING AT CLOCK TOWER BEFORE PRAYER VIGIL PERSON HANDS OUT CANDLES BEFORE VIGIL CLOSE VIEW OF BAGPIPER
- Embargoed: 12th April 2023 04:23
- Keywords: Mt. Juliet Nashville Prayers School shooting Vigil
- Location: MT. JULIET, TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES
- City: MT. JULIET, TENNESSEE, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: North America
- Reuters ID: LVA001107628032023RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Residents of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee gathered for an evening prayer vigil Tuesday (March 28) a day after the mass shooting at a school in nearby Nashville that left 3 children and 3 adults dead.
Jarod Smith, pastor of New Tribe Church, said those in attendance had come together to "lift up our grief" in solidarity "with all those involved with the tragedy that unfolded at the Covenant School in Nashville."
Authorities said a heavily armed 28-year-old - Aubrey Hale - had carried out the massacre at the private Christian school with 3 guns, before being killed by police. The motive was not immediately known, but the suspect had drawn detailed maps of the school, including entry points for the building, and left behind a "manifesto" and other writings that investigators were examining, police said.
At the vigil, Daryl Crouch, executive director of the Christian aid group Everyone's Wilson, said many local residents were taking comfort in their faith as they fought bewilderment and a sense of helplessness in the face of "darkness beyond our comprehension."
Sixty-year-old Trecia Dillingham, who attended the vigil, said she blamed the tragedy on declining reverence for the value of life.
"So many young people are confused about the value of life, and I think that's what it boils down to," Dillingham said.
"I think life is not valued in so many ways, and so people resort to things like this because they don't value other people's life and they don't even value their own life," she added.
Nashville police said that prior to the shooting spree, Hale had been under a doctor's care for an "emotional disorder" and had amassed a collection of seven guns. Monday's (March 27) attack is the latest in a long string of U.S. mass shootings that have fueled a national debate over gun rights.
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