VOA新闻杂志2023--Six Killed in Latest US School Shooting

Six Killed in Latest US School Shooting

An attacker shot and killed six people, including three 9-year-olds, at a private Christian¹ school in Nashville, Tennessee Monday.

Police killed the shooter about fifteen minutes into the attack at The Covenant² School. Police said the attacker shot through a door to enter the school using two "assault-style" rifles and a handgun.

About 200 students were at the school at the time of the attack.

The three children killed were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. The adults killed were 60-year-old Katherine Koonce, 61-year-old Mike Hill and Cynthia Peake, also 61.

Police identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale. They say Hale was a former student at the school.

American President Joe Biden said he had spoken to the Nashville chief of police, mayor and senators in Tennessee. He pleaded with Congress to pass stronger gun safety laws, including a ban on assault weapons.

Mass shooters have killed hundreds of people throughout the United States. Mass shootings have happened in food stores, movie theaters and workplaces.

175 killed in 15 mass shootings

The Associated Press operates a database on mass shootings in partnership⁴ with USA Today and Northwestern University in Illinois. The group defines a mass shooting as one in which four or more people are killed, excluding the attacker. Its database records show 175 people have died in 15 mass shootings connected to U.S. schools and colleges since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School.

In May 2022, an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at the Robb Elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, killing⁵ 19 children and two adults. Law enforcement killed the attacker, but parents blamed officials for being too slow to react to the event.

A student in Michigan has pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism charges connected to a mass shooting at Oxford⁶ High School, near Detroit, Michigan in November 2021. Four people were killed and others were wounded. The student was 15 at the time of the shooting. Officials have charged his parents with involuntary manslaughter. Officials say they failed to keep the gun in a safe place and ignored the mental health needs of their son before the shooting.

A 17-year-old was charged with murder for the killing of 10 people, mostly students, at Santa Fe High School in Texas in May 2018. Following the violence, a Santa Fe student told the local television station, "It's been happening everywhere. I've always kind of felt like that eventually it was going to happen here, too."

Three months earlier in February 2018, the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida resulted in 17 dead, including 14 students. The shooter was sentenced to life without parole.

In October 2015, a shooter killed nine people at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. The man wounded nine others before killing himself.

At Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington state, a 15-year-old used text messages to draw several relatives and friends to his lunch table in October 2014. He shot and killed four of them before killing himself.

A 22-year-old college student used knives and guns to kill six students at the University of California, Santa Barbara in May 2014. He injured several others before killing himself.

Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, was the site of one of the deadliest mass shootings in the U.S. In December 2012, a 19-year-old man killed his mother at their home then went to the nearby elementary school and killed 20 first graders and six educators. The gunman killed himself.

In April 2012, a former nursing student shot and killed seven people at Oikos University, a small private college in East Oakland, California. The shooter died in prison in 2019.

A 27-year-old former student shot and killed five people and wounded more than 20 others at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, before killing himself in February 2008.

Thirty-two people were killed in April 2007 when a student opened fire at Virginia Tech, a university in Blacksburg, Virginia. The man also wounded more than 20 others before killing himself.

A 32-year-old man entered West Nickle Mines Amish School near Lancaster, Pennsylvania in October 2006. He told the boys to leave and tied up the girls. The man shot and killed five of them before killing himself. Five others were wounded.

In March 2005, a 16-year-old student killed his grandfather and the man's companion at their Minnesota home. He then went to nearby Red Lake High School, where he killed five students and two others before shooting himself.

At Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, two students killed 12 students and one teacher at the school in April 1999. The two injured many others before killing themselves.

Investigation⁷ ongoing⁸

Metropolitan⁹ Nashville Police Chief John Drake spoke³ to reporters Tuesday. He did not say police knew yet why the attacker acted. But he said in an earlier interview with NBC News that investigators¹⁰ believe the shooter had "some resentment¹¹ for having to go to that school."

The police have released security videos of the shooter entering the school as well as of the police action that followed. Drake also provided examples of evidence collected about Hale. It includes documents showing careful planning for the attack. Police also said Hale was under the care of a doctor for a mental health disorder¹². And they said Hale's weapons had been purchased legally.

Words in This Story

rifle -n. a gun with long barrel

resentment - n. a feeling of anger or displeasure about something

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

9 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

10 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

12 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。