In Nashville, Tennessee, an unsettling incident at a high school on January 22 resulted in the tragic death of a student and the suicide of the shooter. The individual responsible for the shooting, Solomon Henderson, aged 17, had already been on probation for earlier aggressive behavior, documented in juvenile court records released following a new state transparency law.
The records detail a previous confrontation involving Henderson on October 24, 2024, when he was charged with carrying a weapon on school grounds and reckless endangerment. Problems ensued when a fellow student greeted Henderson, prompting a hostile reaction involving racial slurs and the brandishing of a box cutter. Court filings shared that when school officials approached Henderson, he threatened violence and cited fears of being attacked by the student’s friends. As part of his probation terms, Henderson was barred from possessing firearms.
Henderson’s juvenile record also notes a disturbing incident from November 2023 involving the distribution of indecent images of minors, for which he faced restrictions including barred access to social media and the internet outside of school assignments. In both incidents, his actions were mitigated under judicial guidance, and his mother intended to homeschool him after the October confrontation. The timeline of his return to Antioch High School remains unclear.
On that grim January day, Henderson entered the school’s cafeteria and fatally shot 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante before turning the gun on himself. Another student sustained minor injuries and was quickly released from medical care. Nashville police reported that Henderson fired a 9 mm pistol, procured from Arizona and of unknown ownership due to it not being reported stolen. Despite initial enquiries, police have found no apparent links between Henderson and the victims, suggesting the unsettling episode may have been indiscriminate.
Following the attack, anti-hate analysts attributed a significant accumulation of violent and racist rhetoric to Henderson, with documents implying affiliations to neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies. These writings depicted contemplation and schemes for the school attack, though they do not specifically mention Escalante as a target. Published writings exceed 300 pages, and are currently under examination by police and the FBI. Authorities indicated Henderson’s exposure to disturbing online material, particularly through unconventional and potentially harmful websites. The full circumstances and motivations behind the violence are under continued investigation.