ARTICLE LAST UPDATED 1/23/25:
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A female student was fatally shot at a high school in Nashville on Wednesday morning. Another student was also shot but survived and the gunman died by suicide.
The shooting happened just after 11 a.m. in the cafeteria at Antioch High School. An armed 17-year-old male, identified on Wednesday afternoon as Solomon Henderson, confronted Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, and then fired multiple shots. Escalante was shot and killed. The shooter, who was also a student at the school, then sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died, reports WSMV.
The male victim who was shot but survived sustained a graze wound and has since been released from the hospital, reports CNN. His identity has not been released. Another male student sustained a facial injury from a fall but was not shot.
Police say the gunman took the bus to school before the shooting. At some point, he went to the restroom, possibly to retrieve his pistol, and then shot Escalante, reports NBC News.
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Antioch High School was immediately placed on lockdown after the shooting, and students were assembled in the auditorium. A Family Assistance Center was set up Ascension Saint Thomas Medical for students to reunite with their parents and guardians. Around 2:15 p.m., the district started running its regular bus routes from the reunification site for students who hadn’t already been picked up by guardians, according to WSMV. Students who drove to school were brought back to the school to get their car once police cleared the parking lot.
Metro Nashville Police are investigating the incident, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is assisting. The motive for the shooting is still unknown.
Antioch High School Student Recalls Gunman Taking Own Life
Antioch High School senior Brandi Lemons told CNN that she was about to get in line to buy lunch when she heard a loud pop followed by three more pops. Lemons said everyone tried to climb over a milk counter to access the back door of the cafeteria.
“Honestly, I decided to help people before I helped myself because I know if that was me struggling to get out, I would want somebody to help me,” she recalled. “Some of them were getting stuck, like their shoe was getting caught.”
Lemons said the shooter then came around the corner where she and others were hiding.
“When I realized that he saw the rest of us still in the corner, I thought that was it,” she said, crying. “I thought he was going to get us too.”
Instead, the shooter turned the gun on himself, she said.
Cameras, Secure Vestibule, Weapons Detection Already in Place Before School Shooting
Several safety measures were already in place at Antioch High School before Wednesday’s shooting, including school resource officers (SROs), a secure front-entrance vestibule, protective window film, and security cameras with weapons detection software, reports the Tennessean. The school does not have metal detectors but does search students for weapons.
Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Adrienne Battle said that she and her team will “continue to explore emerging technologies and strategies to strengthen school safety.” She also thanked the school staff members who reacted quickly after the shooting.
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Former Antioch student Nadia Marquez told The Tennessean that she wasn’t surprised by the shooting because “there were always threats” when she attended. Two SROs were on campus when the shooting happened but were not in the cafeteria at the time of the shooting.
The school will be closed for the remainder of the week but MNPS social workers and guidance counselors will be available at the Family Assistance Center.
The school shooting happened one day after President Donald Trump disbanded the White House Office of Gun Violence and Prevention.
Nashville Police Search Home of Suspected Antioch High School Shooter
Metro Police said investigators searched the suspect gunman’s home following the shooting. According to CNN, law enforcement officials are examining concerning social media posts and purported writings tied to the suspected shooter. The Tennessean reports that some of the online writings contain violence, racist, and antisemitic content. Antioch High School has approximately 2,000 students with an 87.3% minority enrollment, including 50.4% Hispanic students and 32.3% Black students, according to US News.
Related Article: Antioch High School Shooting: Gunman Idolized Mass Murderers, Embraced Alt-Right Content
Kick, a live streaming app, wrote in a statement that the part of the shooting was streamed on its platform. The company says it “rapidly banned the account and removed the video.”
