‘ASSASSINATED’

Heroic Principal Ditched Her Zoom Call and Rushed ‘Straight for’ the Nashville Shooter

Katherine Koonce, a dedicated educator who “knew every single student by name,” died while attempting to confront the shooter, police believe.

Katherine Koonce, head of The Covenant School in Nashville, dropped everything when an active shooter stormed her school on Monday morning and ran towards the gunfire, officials believe. “It is my understanding from a witness at the school that Katherine Koonce was on a Zoom call when she heard the first shot. She immediately ended the call, got up and headed straight for the shooter,” Nashville City Councilman Russ Pulley said in an interview with Fox News. Koonce’s body was found in the school’s hallway, with evidence that she had been “assassinated,” according to Nashville Police Chief John Drake. “There was a confrontation, I’m sure,” Drake said. “You can tell [by] the way she was laying in the hallway.” Koonce, 61, was a dedicated educator who “knew every single student by name,” according to one parent. She was one of six victims killed by former student Audrey Hale.