dark day Teen fatally shoots female student, wounds another at Nashville high school, police say

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A female student was killed and another student was injured Wednesday in a shooting in a Nashville high school cafeteria, authorities said, jarring the community nearly two years after another school massacre sparked a debate for gun reform in Tennessee.

The shooting occurred in Antioch High School shortly after 11 a.m., according to Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron. Authorities said a male student armed with a pistol opened fire in the cafeteria, fatally shot Josselin Corea Escalante, 16, and left another male student with a graze wound. The school's two resource officers were present in the building, but not in the cafeteria at the time of the shooting and were not able to intervene before the shooter turned the gun on himself, Aaron said.

The suspected shooter, identified as Solomon Henderson, 17, was an active student at the school and was found dead at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police. Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake said it was not clear if the shooting was targeted, or if there was a motive behind it.

The police chief said the suspect rode the bus to Antioch High School Wednesday morning before making his way to the cafeteria, where he confronted and fatally shot a fellow student. The shooter fired several rounds before turning the gun on himself, according to Drake.

Drake said an investigation is underway into the shooting, including a variety of leads. A fourth student was also transported to the hospital for minor facial injuries from a fall.

The shooting comes nearly two years after three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members were killed in a shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. The shooter then was killed by police.

'Heartbreaking day'

Worried parents rushed to the school as the news spread, jamming the exit near the school as they desperately tried to navigate police blockades. By 1 p.m., more than 100 had gathered at the reunification site about a half mile from the school as buses full of students arrived.

Metro Nashville Public Schools Director Adrienne Battle called it a "heartbreaking day" for Antioch High, Metro Nashville Police Department, and the greater Nashville community. 

"My heart goes out to these families as they face unimaginable loss," she said.

Chante Frye said her daughter, a ninth grader, was in a classroom when she heard the gunshots. She texted her mom that the school was on lockdown.

"It was terrifying," Frye said, as she stood across from the Ascension Saint Thomas Antioch hospital where reunification with students was about to occur. "But it's almost not surprising because it's getting worse with the fights and the violence at school."

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Social media activity sheds light on suspected shooter

Social media activity uncovered Wednesday shed some light on the suspected shooter as police sought to identify a motive behind the attack.

"We believe there's some materials out there, and maybe they were seen," Drake said, adding if someone "said something, maybe more could have been done."

A nearly 300-page document posted on X contains numerous selfies of what appears to be the shooter with various alt-right paraphernalia scattered between statements against “race mixing,” wishes to “take revenge” on society, statements praising Adolf Hitler and pages of explicit photos from previous school shootings.

Social media accounts linked in the document and scattered across many platforms including X, Kick and TikTok focused heavily on “groyper” content — a nickname used by many online white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups — as well as “incel” content, a name referring to young men who claim to be “involuntarily celibate” and espouse incredibly violent misogynistic views.

On a Bluesky account linked in the document, a post on Wednesday morning read, “Today seems like a good day to die.”

The shooter also appeared to have livestreamed the attack on multiple platforms. On Wednesday night, Kick confirmed the shooting was partially livestreamed on the site, and that the account was "rapidly" banned and the content removed.

Student heard 'big pop' on way to the cafeteria

Brandi Lemons, 18, a senior at the high school, said she was walking into the cafeteria with other students for lunch when she heard gunshots.

“I heard a big pop and we all turned around and tried to find out what it was, and then three more pops after that and we all took off running to the left side of the cafeteria,” Lemons said.

She said she was about to climb over a milk counter to escape when she saw the shooter walk around a corner toward her. Lemons said he then put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

The shooter was a student at the high school, Lemons said, but noted she had never spoken with him.

Lemons said she ran through the cafeteria’s kitchen and out the school’s back exit, where she called her father from the parking lot to pick her up. She said she and her classmates were all shaken.

“Right now we’re scared and confused,” she said.

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White House monitoring Nashville school shooting

The White House said in a statement that it was monitoring the shooting.

"The President and his team are monitoring the news out of Nashville," the statement read. "As details unfold, the White House offers its heartfelt thoughts and prayers to those impacted by this senseless tragedy and thank the brave first responders responding to the incident."

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee offered his condolences to the victims and the community.

"I’ve been briefed on the incident at Antioch High School and am grateful for law enforcement & first responders who responded quickly and continue to investigate," Lee said in a statement. "As we await more information, I join Tennesseans in praying for the victims, their families & the school community."

School official describes safety measures at Antioch High

Multiple safety measures are in place at Antioch High, Battle said, including school resource officers, a secured vestibule at the entrance, and cameras with weapon-detection software.

Battle said Antioch High School will be closed for the rest of the week “to allow time for students and staff to grieve" in the wake of the shooting, and the school district is arranging grief counseling.

The director noted Wednesday's assault is "deeply personal" for her, as she recalled an accidental shooting that left a 13-year-old boy dead in 1994 when she attended John Trotwood Moore Middle School in Nashville.

Battle also thanked the school staff who responded quickly in the aftermath of the shooting.

"Their actions were heroic on a dark day for our school community," she said.