NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Evan Ozgener didn't want to be home on Monday afternoon.
His neighborhood dynamic changed as soon as the FBI, Metro Nashville Police Department and the ATF arrived on Brightwood Avenue in Nashville, about 10 minutes from The Covenant School. The shooter — Audrey Hale — killed six people inside the school before police exchanged gunfire with Hale and killed the suspect.
Related: What we know about The Covenant School shooter in Nashville
Related: Seven dead: three children killed plus the shooter dead at The Covenant School on Monday
The six victims fatally shot by the active shooter at Covenant School are identified as: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, Cynthia Peak, age 61, Katherine Koonce, age 60, and Mike Hill, age 61.
"You see on the news all the time," Ozgener said. "Now it’s happening blocks away from my house. It’s gone too far. Our neighbors are really nice people. I haven’t met anyone who has been negative toward me. It’s a real thing. People are affected by this deeply. There needs to be action in the government and in local governments as well."
His friend Lincoln Alphin was with him. The two were watching from behind the yellow crime scene tape outside Hale's home on Brightwood Avenue. The two had seen the crime scene van from MNPD and a helicopter flying in the sky above.
"It’s wild that someone who is a school shooter lives right there," Alphin said. "Everyone was talking about it at school. We are all in high school. You never think it will happen near you, and it’s shocking. I don’t know what to say. I felt safe in this neighborhood. Now, it’s like there’s someone who shot children who lived just a few doors down."
