Student Killed, Another Injured in High School Cafeteria Shooting
A Nashville community is reeling after a fatal shooting at Antioch High School on Wednesday left one student dead, another injured, and a third fighting unseen wounds after witnessing the violence unfold. The incident, which occurred nearly two years after a devastating school shooting in the city, has reignited urgent calls for gun reform in Tennessee.
The shooting took place shortly after 11 a.m. in the school’s cafeteria, according to Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron. Authorities reported that a 17-year-old male student, Solomon Henderson, opened fire, killing 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante and grazing another male student with a bullet.
Despite the presence of two school resource officers in the building, they were not in the cafeteria when the attack occurred and were unable to intervene before Henderson turned the gun on himself. Police confirmed that Henderson died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said investigators are still piecing together the events leading up to the tragedy and are working to determine whether the attack was premeditated.
“This was a senseless act of violence that has left a community shattered,” Drake said.
Henderson reportedly took the bus to school that morning before making his way to the cafeteria. Witnesses say he fired several rounds, confronting and fatally shooting Escalante before ending his own life. A fourth student was also hospitalized with minor facial injuries from a fall during the chaos.
Heartbreak in a City Too Familiar With School Shootings
The shooting comes nearly two years after the 2023 massacre at The Covenant School in Nashville, where three children and three staff members lost their lives. That tragedy sparked heated debates over gun control laws in Tennessee, and Wednesday’s shooting has further underscored the urgency of the issue for many in the community.
Parents’ Worst Nightmare
As news of the shooting spread, frantic parents rushed to Antioch High School, their cars clogging nearby streets as they tried to navigate police blockades. By 1 p.m., more than 100 parents had gathered at a reunification site half a mile from the school, anxiously waiting for buses carrying their children.
Among them was Chante Frye, whose ninth-grade daughter texted her from a locked classroom moments after hearing the gunshots.
“It was terrifying,” Frye said as she waited outside Ascension Saint Thomas Antioch Hospital, where reunifications were taking place. “But honestly, it’s almost not surprising anymore. The fights, the violence—it’s all getting worse.”
A Community Mourns
Adrienne Battle, Director of Metro Nashville Public Schools, called it a “heartbreaking day” for the Antioch High School community and the city as a whole.
“My heart goes out to these families as they face unimaginable loss,” Battle said in a statement.
As the investigation continues, the community is left grieving and grappling with questions about safety in schools and what more can be done to prevent such tragedies.
