NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After a shooting at Antioch High School, hundreds of students gathered outside the Tennessee State Capitol hours ahead of a special session inside the House and Senate chambers this week.
"Enough is enough," they chanted.
A special session begins Monday at 4 p.m. and involves the issues of school vouchers, Hurricane Helene relief and immigration.
Rep. Jason Powell — a former teacher who turned legislator over the district Antioch High School sits — said he was angry and sad. He apologized that students had to live through the trauma of a shooting at their high school.
The Nashville Democrat asked Gov. Bill Lee to amend the special session call to include gun violence and school safety after the shooting left one 16-year-old girl dead. The shooter also took his own life.
"I am disappointed yet again we are talking about another school shooting in Nashville," Powell said. "Antioch is a great place to live. We continue to take no action when it comes to school shootings and gun violence. For now, the hate that led to this ... I am a Metro school parent. I have two children in the schools. Every day when I drop them off I am terrified they may lose their life to gun violence. No parent should fear that in our city or state. It is unacceptable. I want you to come home and feel safe."
Dayana Corea Escalante, 16, died in the Antioch High School cafeteria after her 17-year-old classmate opened fire, shooting at least 10 rounds into the crowded room. In documents obtained by NewsChannel 5 Investigates, those writings demonstrated the shooter had been considering committing an act of mass violence for some time.
"It was insane to fathom," said a student who said her name was Candance. "We had no one to lean on but ourselves. What do we do? We run. What do we do? We just sit there and cry and run and ask for help. I was there. I was there when he shot himself. How are we supposed to sit here and say everything is fine when it's not? How the hell are we supposed to go back to school on Tuesday."
Powell then went inside the legislature to hold a moment of silence for Dayana while Rep. Harold Love led the legislature in prayer to comfort the families in the Antioch High School community and expand the community's ability to love.
By state law, special session calls cannot be amended. The governor — who was supposed to have a press avail last week — instead went to North Carolina to talk with President Donald Trump about Hurricane Helene relief. He has not been publicly available since the shooting.
Students chanted and held signs with colorfully written messages on pieces of large white poster board. A similar scene happened after The Covenant School shooting, where a gunman killed six people — including three young children — inside the private Christian school. Police killed the shooter.
Just days after that shooting, thousands descended the capitol. They filled the insides of committee rooms. They stood inside the galleries of the Tennessee House and Senate. No gun bills were allowed to go through the 2023 regular session.
That is when three Tennessee legislators stood in the well of the Tennessee House and chanted for gun reform. Known as the Tennessee Three, two of the members were expelled. Those two members were returned to the legislature within days.
Rep. Gloria Johnson — known for her moment in the Tennessee Three — was tearful and choking through her words at the rally. She was not expelled for her actions after The Covenant School shooting.
"You shouldn't have to sit in your classrooms and worry about being gunned down," Johnson, D-Knoxville, said. "Kids are more important than guns. We are not talking about taking away everyone's guns. We are talking about gun resolutions. Like safe storage and red flag laws. This is what we are talking about. We can do this. There's no reason we shouldn't when we can protect our students in their classrooms. What are we doing?"
"Kids over guns. Kids over vouchers," they chanted as the Tennessee House members were working through regular business.
She went inside the legislature and tearfully thanked the students for showing up outside the Tennessee capitol.
School safety will not be addressed in the special session.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at emily.west@newschannel5.com.
Shred the gnar with Patrick - the snowboarding lawyer that will remind you not to take things too seriously! His cheeky, cheerful attitude is contagious. His only complaint? The lack of chairlifts at the Tennessee State Capitol of course. Watch his story for an instant pick-me-up on a frigid day.
-Rebecca Schleicher
