Advertisement

'Our children deserve better': First lady Jill Biden responds to Nashville school shooting

WASHINGTON  — First lady Jill Biden said "our children deserve better" as she responded to a mass shooting at a Nashville school Monday that killed seven people including three children.

More: Covenant School shooting updates: 3 children, 3 adults dead after woman opens fire in Nashville

"I am truly without words and our children deserve better," Biden said, opening up remarks at a National League of Cities event in Washington. "We stand, all of us, we stand with Nashville in prayer."

Three students and three staff members were killed after a woman opened fire at The Covenant School, a small private Christian elementary school in Nashville early Monday, according to local authorities. The shooter used two "assault-type" weapons and a handgun, police said.

ADVERTISEMENT

Officers engaged and killed the suspect, according to police. Officials have not released a name of the suspect or offered a motive.

More: 'It's just common sense': Biden signs new executive action expanding gun background checks

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school, on Monday March, 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Jonathan Mattise) ORG XMIT: TNJM101
Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a shooting at their school, on Monday March, 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Jonathan Mattise) ORG XMIT: TNJM101

The White House is in communication with Justice Department and Nashville officials, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

Jean-Pierre cited executive actions Biden has taken on guns but said “it’s not enough,” pointing to the president’s calls for Congress to ban assault weapons and close gun background check loopholes, neither of which have advanced amid Republican resistance in Congress.

“We must do more. And he wants Congress to act because enough is enough. How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act?”

More: President Biden says 'no rationale for assault weapons' after Michigan State University shooting

Reach Joey Garrison on Twitter @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jill Biden after Nashville shooting: 'Our children deserve better'