Image via cnn.com
Staff Writer: Akshit Bagga
Email: abagga@umassd.edu
One student was killed and another was injured after a 17-year-old student opened fire at a high school cafeteria in Nashville. The shooter later committed suicide, shooting himself in the head.
On Wednesday, January 22nd at 11:09 AM, a 17-year-old male student named Solomon Henderson opened fire at his school cafeteria. A 16-year-old female student was killed on the scene, while another male student sustained injuries in the eye. The incident occurred at Antioch High School in Nashville.
The armed student fired ten rounds within 17 seconds and was armed with a nine-millimeter pistol. He later turned the gun on himself and fired a shot to his head, killing himself on the scene.
The deceased female teenager has been identified as Josselin Corea Escalante, while the name of the injured person hasn’t been released.
While two resource officers were present in the school building, they weren’t available in the cafeteria when the incident took place. Soloman gunned himself before the officers could reach the place or intervene.
Antioch High School is home to approximately 2,000 students and is located 17 miles from downtown Nashville.
Josselin’s father is devastated by the incident. He mentioned that she enjoyed playing soccer and used to get good grades.
Describing Josselin, her aunt said, “Oh God. She was my girl. 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.”
While it is still unknown of how the teenager got possession of the pistol, investigators have reported that it was purchased by some individual in 2022 in the state of Arizona.
The mayor of the state of Tennessee, Freddie O’Connell, shared, “First and foremost, we extend our deepest sympathies to the families of these two students and offer our full support to them moving forward. We grieve together. We heal together. And I hope we can respond together.”
Investigating officers revealed that they recovered two documents created by Henderson on a website, which they say many would find harmful and objectionable.
The documents are of 51 and 288 pages, respectively. They believe that he was influenced by web-based material. Before storming in the school cafeteria with a pistol, Henderson went to the restroom and posted pictures on his social media.
This school shooting comes months before the two-year mark of the 2023 Convenant school shooting. The 2023 shooting is regarded as one of the deadliest school shootings in the history of Tennessee. A 28-year-old school alumni stormed in and killed three children and three adults before being taken down by police officers.
Dr. Adrienne Battle, who is the director for the Metro Nashville Public Schools, sent a message to the families of school students. He mentioned, “We mourn the heartbreaking loss of two Antioch High School students in a tragic shooting incident. One student took their own life and the life of a peer, leaving our entire MNPS community grieving alongside their families and loved ones. Our thoughts are with all those affected by this unimaginable loss.”
Nashville Public Schools uses an AI technology called Omnilert to detect guns. Despite the advanced detection system being deployed in schools, no alarms were raised.
Officials say that the technology couldn’t spot the gun because the shooter wasn’t close enough for the cameras to detect and raise alarms.While this is the first school shooting in 2025, 83 school shootings occurred in the year 2024.