Parents at Nashville school shooting express fury at gun laws

A Highland Park parade mass shooting survivor on vacation in Nashville has raged about gun control in America – after a female shooter opened fire at a private elementary school on Monday. 

Ashby Beasley, from Illinois, is a mass shooting survivor – and was visiting a family member in town when the ordeal occurred this morning. 

Authorities confirmed that six people – three children, and three adults – are dead after the 28-year-old gunwoman opened fire at The Covenant School in Tennessee.

The shooter was then killed by police at around 10.27am – making the total death toll seven. 

As the community reels from the tragedy, Beasley is among parents who have spoken out about how gun violence is now an ‘epidemic’ in America.  

Ashby Beasley is among parents who have spoken out about how gun violence is now an ‘epidemic’ in America. She survived the Highland Park parade mass shooting in July 2022

Ashby Beasley (left) and Sheaun Delluebrooks (right) are both parents who have been involved in mass shootings. Beasley and her son were in a shooting, and Delluebrooks lost her son to a shooting in Tennessee in 2018

Children are filed out of school, holding each other by hand, during the mass shooting

She told CNN: ‘I’m a mass shooting survivor. My son and I survived a mass shooting in park where there was a shooting. We ran for our lives, and this is just unacceptable. 

‘Only in America can somebody survive a mass shooting and then go on vacation to visit another person and find themselves near another mass shooting. 

‘This is an epidemic. Gun violence is an epidemic and it needs to be resolved.’ 

Moments after being interviewed, Beasley broke away and hijacked a Fox News broadcast to continue: ‘I have met with lobbying in DC. I’ve met with over a hundred and thirty lawmakers. How is this still happening?’

The Highland Park parade shooting occurred on July 4, 2022 during an Independence Day parade in Illinois. Seven people were killed, and 48 others were wounded by bullets or shrapnel.

Sheaun Delluebrooks said she rushed to the scene at The Covenant School after her son, who attends Hillsboro High School, texted saying he was in lockdown.

The schools are about 1.4 miles – just a five minute drive – away from one another. It’s understood that the high school went into lockdown following reports of the mass shooting at the elementary school. 

Delluebrooks lost her son Akila DaSilva in the 2018 Waffle House mass shooting in Nashville – and today slammed legislators for not doing enough to protect children.

She said that she understands what the parents of the three child victims feel like today – having been through a similar ordeal with her son.  

Delluebrooks told DailyMail.com: ‘We’re failing our children.

Sheaun Delluebrooks lost her son Akila DaSilva in the 2018 Waffle House mass shooting in Nashville

School buses with children arrive at Woodmont Baptist Church – as kids flee the mass shooting this morning

Children arrive at Woodmont Baptist Church to be reunited with their families after a mass shooting at The Covenant School

A police chaplain stands by as children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville

‘Maybe this could have been prevented if there were laws in place to protect them.’ 

‘I know what these parents are feeling. You get that call that your family member was shot and eventually died and it’s devastating.’

‘Our governor our legislator, they are failing our children. They are failing us miserably.’

Police say the gunman – who has not yet been named – killed three kids and three adults before being shot dead by police. 

Shortly before 10.13am, the woman entered the school through a side door and began opening fire on the second floor.

Police arrived at the scene and heard the gunshots coming from the 2nd floor. By 10,.27am, she had been shot dead. She was armed with two assault-style rifles and a handgun.