Top Row, L-R: Katherine Koonce, Mike Hill, Cynthia Peak Bottom Row, L-R: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs.Photo: The Covenant School; Facebook (4)
Three children and three adults were killed during a shooting ata private Christian school in Nashville on Mondayafter a 28-year-old former student opened fire inside the building.
“Our community is heartbroken,” the Covenant School said in a statement emailed to PEOPLE. “We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff, and beginning the process of healing.”
Here’s what we know about the victims:
Hallie Scruggs, 9
Courtesy of the Scruggs family
“We are heartbroken,” Chad toldABC Newsin a statement. “Through tears we trust that she is in the arms of Jesus who will raise her to life once again.”
Chad described his daughter to the network as “such a gift.”
Hallie’s aunt,Kara Scruggs Arnold, tells PEOPLEthat Hallie is the youngest of four children of Chad and his wife Jada. Her brothers are John Randall, 16, Charlie, 14, and Carter, 12.
“She was very athletic, loved to play sports, soccer and basketball,” Scruggs said. “Especially all the games I saw she always scored like a million goals.”
Kara described the Scruggs' as “a very close-knit, down to earth community and family.”
Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9
Evelyn Dieckhaus.
Evelyn Dieckhaus was a third grade student at the school, according toThe Tennessean. She has one sister, a fifth grader, who said, “I don’t want to be an only child” during a vigil held at a local church on Monday evening, the outlet reports.
“Our hearts are completely broken,” the Dieckhaus family said in a statement,KMOV reporter Paige Hulsey reports. “We cannot believe this has happened. Evelyn was a shining light in this world. We appreciate all the love and support but ask for space as we grieve.”
“Evelyn made an impact on this world, and she will continue to,” Clay Stauffer, senior minister of Woodmont Christian Church, toldNews Channel 5.
William Kinney, 9
William Kinney was also a student at the Covenant School,The Tennesseanreports.
“Will had an unflappable spirit,” aGoFundMe created for the Kinney familyreads. “He was unfailingly kind, gentle when the situation called for it, quick to laugh, and always inclusive of others. He loved his sisters, adored his parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and was always excited to host friends of every age. Sweet Will knew no strangers, and our hearts our broken for his family as they try to find their way forward.”
Katherine Koonce, 60
Dr. Katherine Koonce.The Covenant School
The head of the Covenant School,Dr. Katherine Koonce, was also killed Monday morning.
“Katherine was as solid as a friend could be,” Button said. “Her faith was her foundation. Her family was her greatest love, yet she always wanted to work and give back so other families and children could also feel loved and cared for.”
Koonce was announced as The Covenant School’snew Head of School in April 2016.
Koonce’s niece, Heather Benge, remembered her aunt in aFacebook post.
“If there was any trouble in that school, she would run to it, not from it,” Koonce’s friend Jackie Bailey told theAssociated Press. “She was trying to protect those kids … That’s just what I believe.”
Mike Hill, 61
Mike Hill.Facebook
Mike Hill was a beloved custodian at the school and had worked at the Covenant School for more than 13 years, according to a friend.
In aFacebook post, Hill’s daughter, Brittany Hill, remembered her father.
“I have watched school shootings happen over the years and never thought I would lose a loved one over a person trying to solve a temporary problem with a permanent solution,” Brittany wrote.
She ended her post with a message for others, writing, “hug your parents and children a little tighter.”
Tim Dunavant, a former employee of the Covenant church and school and a pastor at Hartsville First United Methodist Church in Tennessee, said in aFacebook postthat he had hired Hill at the Covenant School.
AGoFundMehas been created for Hill’s family.
“Mike was the beloved father of eight children,” the fundraiser’s description reads. “More notably, he was ‘Big Mike’ to his students, who will surely feel his loss in the years to come. Per his family, he took great pleasure and found tremendous joy in his job and through those students.”
Cynthia “Cindy” Broyles Peak, 61
Cynthia Peak.Facebook
Cynthia “Cindy” Broyles Peak was a substitute teacher at the school, according to Nashville authorities.
“We will never stop missing her,” the statement continues. “We are grateful for the hope of Heaven. She never wavered in her faith and we know she is wrapped in the arms of Jesus. Our hearts go out to all the victims' families as we grieve this horrific tragedy.”
“When I think about Cindy, I think about a sweet smile that she had,” Peggy Murphy, a friend of Peak’s, toldKSLA News 12. “I think about how her spirit was just so sweet and it was so kind.”
Chuck Owen described Peak as a “lifelong friend"in a Facebook post. Owen said Peak lived in Leesville, La., as a child and became fast friends with his sister, Mae.
“She and my sister were the closest of friends growing up and it seems like Cindy was around for all of my childhood,” Owen wrote.
Owen said when Mae died, he remembered seeing Cindy first, writing that “she was right here to grieve her old friend.”
“Cindy was a devout servant and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Owen continued. “She told me that she got saved in college and that God’s love changed her life. I grieve through tears as I write these words, but I know Cindy is in Heaven with her father, Dr. Bill Broyles, her mother, Nell Broyles, and her oldest sister, Diane. I also can take solace that she and my sister are once again holding hands and smiling.”
According to a statement fromTexas Christian University, Peak was a 1983 graduate of the university.
How to help
You can donate to the families of the victims through theThe Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.ViVEandVictimsFirsthave also created GoFundMe pages for donations. Both fundraisersare verified.
source: people.com
