Timeline of key events over the past year
On March 27, 2023, the Nashville community forever changed when a mass shooter killed six people at a private Christian school, marking the deadliest school shooting in Tennessee history. h The year that followed saw vigils, rallies and cries for stricter gun control as demonstrators flooded the state Capitol. State lawmakers expelled two members before battling in a chaotic special session on public safety that ultimately ended with no major action on gun control. Advocates have vowed to push harder for gun safety laws. h Meanwhile, Covenant School students, parents and staff have worked to heal over the past year while attending classes on a temporary school campus at Brentwood Hills Church of Christ. The school plans to return to its original building in April. h Wednesday marks one year since the tragedy. Here is a timeline of key events over the past year.
March 27 — At 10:11 a.m., a shooter carrying two assault-style weapons and a handgun shoots out a glass door at a side entrance at Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school in Nashville. The shooter, a former student, enters the school and kills six people: head of school Katherine Koonce, 60; custodian Mike Hill, 61; substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61; and 9-year-old third-graders Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs. Police kill the shooter 14 minutes after the initial 911 call.
March 29 — Hundreds of people gather for a vigil in Nashville’s Public Square Park to honor the victims.
March 30 — More than 1,000 peaceful protesters descend on Tennessee’s state Capitol demanding stronger gun laws. Tensions flare as Republican lawmakers liken it to “an insurrection,” but no one was arrested or injured, and no property was damaged. Legislative business is later halted as three Democratic lawmakers stand at the podium with a bullhorn calling for gun reform.
April 3 — House Republicans move to expel the three members who broke House decorum rules and interrupted legislative business.
April 6 — The House votes to expel two Democratic lawmakers — Reps. Justin Jones, D-nashville, and Rep. Justin Pearson, D-memphis — for breaking House rules, putting Tennessee in the national spotlight. Lawmakers fail by one vote to expel Rep. Gloria Johnson, D-knoxville.
April 10 — Jones rejoins the legislature after Nashville’s Metro Council unanimously votes to reappoint him. Pearson is reappointed two days later.
May 8 — Gov. Bill Lee calls for a special legislative session on public safety with a push for an extreme risk protection order law that would allow a judge to temporarily confiscate guns from those deemed mentally unfit. Republicans call any “red flag” type law a “nonstarter.”
May 1 — The Tennessee Firearms Association sues Metro Nashville in the fight to release public records related to the mass shooter’s writings. The Tennessean weeks later also sues Metro for the release of records and is joined in the lawsuit by state Sen. Todd
Gardenhire, R-chattanooga. A judge will later rule that Covenant parents, the church and school can join the case to argue against the records being publicly released. The Tennessean has no plans to publish the writings verbatim and has sought to center coverage on public policy, the victims and the community. A trial date is set for April 2024.
Aug 3 — Jones and Pearson win back their House seats in special elections.
Aug. 21 — Tennessee’s special legislative session on public safety kicks off with marathon hearings, a growing divide between the House and Senate and news conferences from gun control advocates.
Aug. 29 — The special session ends in chaos with no significant action on gun control. Covenant parents pushing for gun reform vow to return for the next legislative session in 2024.
Nov. 8 — Seven Metro Nashville Police officers are placed on administrative assignment after three pages from the Covenant School shooter’s notebook are leaked to a conservative media personality. The department was unable to find the source of the leak.
Dec. 31 — The Tennessean names the five police officers who entered Covenant School to stop the mass shooter as the news organization’s “People of the Year.”
Jan. 9 — Tennessee’s 2024 legislative session kicks off as Covenant parents and advocates continue to push for stricter gun laws.
Feb. 26 — Lawmakers pass legislation requiring all schools to create a new fire alarm policy. The bill, backed by Covenant parents, is signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee on March 12.
Feb. 29 — In the year since the shooting, a group of women whose children died or survived the attack sprang into action. They formed organizations to lobby for change in the state’s gun laws. They went to the state Capitol, where they were a constant presence for months after the shooting. These Covenant moms were highlighted as part of USA TODAY’S Women of the Year program.