NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Pages of writings from the alleged shooter at Antioch High School showed a layout of the school, the weapons he wanted to use and his thoughts about why he wanted to commit a shooting.
The Metro Nashville Police Department identified the shooter as Solomon Henderson, 17. He is accused of killing Josselin Corea Escalante, 16. MNPD Chief John Drake said in an afternoon press conference that there were materials on the internet the department was looking into as part of the investigation.
"That's in the initial stages but we’ll continue to follow up on that," Drake said.
In his writings obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, Henderson showed a layout of Antioch High School, photos of a handgun, a lock picking kit and cartridges to load the handgun. He wanted to livestream his attack in the cafeteria. The writings were connected to a social media account that was purportedly Henderson's. He posted the writings on the account before the shooting in the cafeteria.
In one of his first sentences, Henderson wrote he "was ashamed to be Black." He was anti-Semitic in his writings and posted a flyer from the Goyim Defense League, which is a neo-Nazi white supremacy group that visited Nashville this summer.
Henderson said he was inspired by Candance Owens, a conservative Black pundit who previously called Nashville home.
"Candance Owens influenced me above all each time she spoke," Henderson wrote.
His writings showed that he had been thinking about violence for a few months. He wrote his final remarks on Nov. 18.
"I was so miserable. I wanted to kill myself. I just couldn't take anymore. I am a worthless subhuman, a living breathing disgrace. All my (in real life) friends outgrew me act like they didn't f—ing know me. Being me was so f—ing humiliating. That's why I spend all day dissociating."
Henderson's writings also showed a photo of The Covenant School shooter who died in 2023 after attacking the private Christian school. Three children and three staff people died that day in addition to the shooter.
He wrote he didn't intend to kill law enforcement and that he didn't consider himself the victim of bullying.
However, he did write about how he felt about the school in disparaging terms about race. Antioch High School has a diverse student body with a majority of Hispanic and Black students.
"School is a daycare," he wrote. "It's just impossible for you to actually think. You say things because other people have said it before then go repeat ad nauseum somewhere else. In school, we're taught to wake up early, shut up, sit for long periods of hours do tasks you hate then repeat."
His writings included a link to instructions on how to carry out a mass killing with targets ranked as far as what is easiest. There were links to other manifestos on his document, and he praised other mass shooters.
NewsChannel 5 Investigates is waiting on a response from the Metro Nashville Police Department.
