Nashville school shooting suspect's social media linked to Madison school shooter's social media: Sources

 

A 17-year-old allegedly shot two classmates at his Nashville school this week.

January 24, 2025, 1:20 AM

2:13

Teen killed in Tennessee school shooting

Teen killed in Tennessee school shooting

Officials say a 17-year-old student opened fire in Antioch High School’s cafeteria, killing a 16-year-old female student and wounding another before turning the gun on himself.

A social media account connected to the Nashville high school shooting suspect may have been in contact with the suspected Madison, Wisconsin, school shooter's social media account, according to law enforcement sources.

Solomon Henderson, a 17-year-old student, allegedly opened fire in the cafeteria at Antioch High School on Wednesday, killing 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante and injuring a 17-year-old, police said.

School bus arrives at a unification site following a shooting at at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 22, 2025.

George Walker IV/AP

An ambulance leaves the Antioch High School following a shooting in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 22, 2025.

George Walker IV/AP

Henderson, who was armed with a pistol, then died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, police said.

The injured 17-year-old boy suffered a graze wound and has since been released from the hospital, police said.

Dasia Pleitez prays as she waits for her daughter at a unification site following a shooting at the Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 22, 2025.

George Walker IV/AP

Law enforcement at the scene of a shooting at Antioch High School in Nashville, Tenn., Jan. 22, 2025.

Metro Nashville Police Department

A motive is not known, police said Wednesday, but according to sources, Henderson left a substantial body of data online and on social media.

A Pinterest account linked to Henderson features photos of past school shooters, including the shooters from Parkland, Florida, and Uvalde, Texas, according to a source.

Solomon Henderson.

Obtained by ABC News

Henderson's social media presence also shows he may have been in contact with 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow, who opened fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, last month, according to law enforcement sources.

Rupnow, who went by Samantha, also died after the shooting, in which two were killed and several wounded.

MORE: Nashville school shooting suspect allegedly praised mass shooters, extremist views

Rupnow's account may have been following Henderson's account at the time of the Wisconsin shooting in December, according to law enforcement sources.

Authorities are also investigating a BlueSky account believed to be linked to Henderson, according to sources. One of the BlueSky posts -- made a day before the shooting -- showed an edited picture of Rupnow, according to sources. Another post the same day mentioned intentions of conducting the shooting with a second person.

Henderson also apparently shared a 51-page document before the shooting expressing violent white supremacist beliefs, sources said. He expressed self-hatred as a Black person, and he wrote of wishing violence on other Black people.

Solomon Henderson.

Obtained by ABC News

MORE: What to know about the 15-year-old suspected school shooter in Wisconsin

He also expressed violent hatred toward Jews and used antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories to express his views, according to the sources. Henderson appeared to support neo-Nazi accelerationist and violent incel beliefs and expressed a desire to see genocide committed against racial and religious minorities, according to sources.

He belonged to online communities that promote violence and extremism, sources said, and some people in those groups publicly identified Henderson as the school shooter long before his identity was confirmed by authorities.

According to Rupnow’s social media accounts, she appeared to show interest in neo-Nazi ideology and neo-Nazi violence.

She also appeared to show interest and engagement in online forums venerating mass shooters, according to information provided to law enforcement. Her posts included mentions of the Columbine school shooting and a picture of the Parkland school shooter.

Weapons detection system at school failed to work

An artificial intelligence system meant to detect weapons at Antioch High School failed to spot the gun, according to Metro Nashville Public Schools.

The system, called Omnilert, uses AI technology to scan video from cameras for guns and other weapons.

"In this case, the system didn’t work because of where the shooter was and the position of the gun," school district spokesperson Sean Braisted said Thursday. He added that the system did go off later when armed officers entered the school.

Braisted said the system has worked in the past, even spotting realistic toy guns like water pistols.

"These systems can only detect weapons the cameras can see," he said. "That’s why we also have other safety measures, like secure doors, shatter-resistant windows, school resource officers and safety drills."