NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A tragic incident unfolded at Antioch High School in Nashville on Wednesday when a shooting in the cafeteria resulted in the death of a 16-year-old girl and left a male student injured. This event comes just months after the city grappled with another school shooting that reignited discussions on gun regulation in Tennessee.
The 17-year-old shooter, identified as Solomon Henderson, was also a student at the school. After the confrontation with fellow student Josselin Corea Escalante, he fatally shot her before turning the gun on himself. According to Metro Nashville Police spokesperson Don Aaron, the shooter used a handgun in this distressing act.
While Josselin was killed in the attack, another student sustained a bullet graze wound but was quickly treated and released from the hospital. Additionally, a third student was hospitalized for a facial injury suffered during the chaos. Initial investigations have revealed no established ties between the shooter and his victims, leading authorities to believe that the shooting may have been random.
Metro Nashville Police, along with federal and state agencies, are currently reviewing concerning online content related to Henderson, hoping to unveil a possible motive behind his actions. Police Chief John Drake reported that two resource officers were present in the school at the time of the incident but were located away from the cafeteria when the shooting began. They arrived at the scene post-tragedy.
Antioch High School, which serves around 2,000 students, is situated approximately ten miles southeast of downtown Nashville. In the aftermath, parents gathered anxiously outside a nearby family safety center where they were eventually reunited with their children. Dajuan Bernard had been anxiously waiting to see his 10th-grade son, who recounted hearing the gunfire from above the cafeteria. “This world is so crazy, it could happen anywhere. We’ve just got to protect the kids,” Bernard expressed, highlighting the urgent need for better protection of children.
Fonda Abner, a concerned grandmother, mentioned her granddaughter had managed to contact her during the incident, but only brief snippets of conversation occurred amidst the panic. “It’s nerve-racking waiting out here,” she said, echoing the feelings of many parents present.
In response to the tragedy, United Family Fellowship, a church in Antioch, organized a vigil for the community to find support and solace. Nashville school superintendent Adrienne Battle highlighted ongoing safety measures in public schools, such as partnerships with local police, enhanced security installations, and barriers to control visitor access. Despite these initiatives, she acknowledged that they proved insufficient to prevent the current situation.
The incident at Antioch High School follows a prior case where a 16-year-old student was apprehended for bringing a loaded gun onto school property. This latest shooting also calls to mind the 2021 incident at a private elementary school in Nashville, where six people lost their lives due to gun violence. Subsequent advocacy for gun control reforms by community groups has largely been dismissed by Republican lawmakers in the state, who instead have focused on augmenting security measures at schools.
Antioch has witnessed numerous violent incidences in recent years, including a deadly shooting in 2017 at a church and another in 2018 at a local Waffle House. State Representative Shaundelle Brooks, whose own son fell victim to gun violence in the Waffle House shooting, lamented the recurrence of such tragedies and asserted the pressing need for reform. “We must do better,” she stated, reaffirming her commitment to fight against gun violence.
Amidst the chaos, Samantha Dickerson found herself distressed and unable to contact her son due to a prior punishment that left him without his phone. After hours of anxiety and waiting, hearing his voice brought her to tears as she expressed her overwhelming relief. “When I heard his voice, I just broke down and started crying,” she recalled, emphasizing the raw emotions families experience during such horrifying events.
