CNN
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Law enforcement officials seeking a motive for a shooting at Nashville Antioch High School Wednesday morning are examining alarming social media posts and purported writings tied to a teenager police say shot and killed a 16-year-old girl.
The shooter, identified by Metro Nashville Police as 17-year-old Solomon Henderson, fired multiple rounds inside Antioch High’s cafeteria at roughly 11 a.m. –– killing Josselin Corea Escalante, who was described by her family as kind and loving, CNN affiliate WTVF reported.
Henderson killed himself after the attack, police said.
One student, 17-year-old boy, suffered a graze wound to the arm and was treated and released, police said, while another male student sustained a facial injury but was not shot. Police did not name those victims.
Wednesday’s tragedy, which sent students in the cafeteria scrambling for cover, was the first school shooting to occur in the US this year, based on CNN’s school shooting database parameters. There were 83 incidents in 2024, the most of any year CNN has tracked.
The shooting was partially live streamed on Kick, according to a statement released by the Australian streaming platform on Wednesday. The company added that the account and video were “rapidly banned.”
“Violence has no place on Kick. We are actively working with law enforcement and taking all appropriate steps to support their investigation.”
Authorities are investigating whether the victims were directly targeted by Henderson or struck by random gunfire, Metro Nashville Police said in a statement.
The department, along with detectives in the Homicide Unit have also been examining “very concerning online writings and social media posts” which they say could reveal clues to Henderson’s motive.
Some of the online writings purportedly tied to Henderson’s social media accounts contain violent, racist and antisemitic content, CNN affiliate WTVF and The Tennessean newspaper reported.
The writings illustrate detailed plans for the school shooting and reasons behind committing the attack, along with links and mentions to other manifestos and mass shooters, the outlets said.
Antioch senior Brandi Lemons was about to get in line to buy lunch in the cafeteria when she suddenly heard a loud “pop,” she said.
Students in the lunch line turned around to see what the noise was. Then, three more loud pops rang out.
“Everybody started running and I ran to the left side of the cafeteria,” Brandi told CNN.
Everyone tried to climb over a milk counter in order to reach the backdoor of the cafeteria and escape, she said. Some students struggled to climb over the counter, so Brandi tried to assist them.
“Honestly, I decided to help people before I helped myself because I know if that was me struggling to get out, I would want somebody to help me,” she said. “Some of them were getting stuck, like their shoe was getting caught.”
Suddenly, the shooter came around the corner where Brandi and others were hiding, she said. She didn’t know the shooter, she said.
“When I realized that he saw the rest of us still in the corner, I thought that was it,” Brandi said through tears. “I thought he was going to get us too.”
But instead, the shooter killed himself.
Quickly after, Brandi climbed over the milk counter with the other students and ran outside.
“I’m just shaken up,” she told CNN.
Josselin Corea Escalante’s father is beyond devastated by the loss, he told WTVF. He said his daughter always got good grades and enjoyed playing soccer.
Even though she was an older sister, Josselin was still daddy’s little girl, German Corea told WTVF.
“Every day I told her how much I loved her,” Corea told the affiliate in Spanish.
When he sent her to school Wednesday, he never imagined she wouldn’t come home, Corea said.
“It’s not fair,” he said.
Josselin’s aunt Maria Corea said the family is at a loss for words.
“Oh God. She was my girl,” she told WTVF. “She was a very calm girl and well-behaved. She had good grades in school. She was a girl who loved her parents and all her family.”
Wider Antioch community reeling and in shock
The director for Metro Nashville Public Schools, the district for Antioch High School, called it “a heartbreaking day” for the school community.
“My heart goes out to the families of our students as they face unimaginable loss. I want to thank the school staff who quickly and heroically followed emergency protocols, potentially preventing further harm, as well as the Metro Nashville Police Department and Nashville Fire Department for their swift and urgent response,” Adrienne Battle said in a statement.
The district said it was making counselors available to students. The school will be closed for the rest of the week, the district said.
“Antioch families, MNPS social workers and guidance counselors will be available to support you and your student,” the school district said.
Antioch High School is home to approximately 2,000 students in grades 9 through 12, according to its website. The school is in Nashville’s Antioch neighborhood, about 10 miles southeast of downtown.
Two student resource officers, known as SROs, were in the school at the time of the shooting, but the incident was over by the time they got to the scene, Aaron said.
“They were not in the immediate vicinity of the cafeteria … By the time the SROs got down there, the shooting had stopped, and the shooter had shot himself,” he said.
In a vigil held at Antioch Church Wednesday evening, residents and local officials gathered to mourn the victims of the attack. Leaders of the gathering urged attendees to inhale and let out an exhale, according to WTVF.
“We have to reckon once against with the devastation of gun violence once again,” Nashville mayor Freddie O’Connell said at the vigil.
“We grieve together tonight as a city. We responded together earlier today. We have to respond tomorrow amidst the chaos. We feel frustration and anguish. We will heal together. Our communities deserve better. I have two daughters and they should be safe and feel safe,” he added.
Democratic Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones, whose district includes parts of Nashville and was a vocal proponent of new gun control laws following the shooting deaths of three students and three adults at The Covenant School in Nashville in March 2023, said Wednesday no child should be scared “because of the omnipresent threat of gun violence.”
“The fear reverberating around the Antioch and Nashville communities today is a chilling reminder of the human cost of political inaction and the senseless tragedy of gun violence perpetuated by leaders who have prioritized firearms and the profits of the gun industry over the lives of our students,” Jones said.
Jones, was one of two Black lawmakers expelled then swiftly reinstated after calling for gun control reform on the House floor in 2023.
CNN’s Dalia Faheid, Rebekah Riess, Alex Leeds Matthews and Ryan Young contributed to this report.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misgendered the student suffering a graze wound. He is male, police said in an update.
