National

Nashville father who helped reunite parents and children after Covenant shooting: 'They're Nashvillians'

Josh Gatlin was listening to sports radio in his car on Monday when the news broke that there’d been a shooting at the Covenant School, a private Christian grade school in Nashville.

Gatlin, a 46-year-old father of three, didn't have much of a connection to the school beyond the fact that he passes it every day on his morning commute. But when he heard that a reunification center for Covenant students and their families was being set up at Woodmont Baptist Church, where Gatlin had been baptized, he felt compelled to volunteer.

“My connection to the Covenant School is no more than most people,” Gatlin told Yahoo News. “But now the connection is a little different for all of us. It’s family now.”

Gatlin quickly made his way over to the church, where he and other volunteers joined with first responders to prepare food and water for the terrified families who would soon arrive. Despite their anxiety, Gatlin described an initial sense of calm among the parents as they waited to be reunited with their children.

“There was still a sense of ‘We’re going to get our babies back,’” he said.

Three children and three adults were killed in Monday's rampage at the Covenant School. The slain children were identified by police as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9. The adults were Cynthia Peak, a 61-year-old substitute teacher; Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian; and the 60-year-old head of the school, Katherine Koonce. The shooter, who police have since identified as 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, was also killed.

“At so many points, I had to look through my own tears knowing that my kids were at home safe and that I was here to serve others whose kids were not,” Gatlin told Yahoo News.

Gatlin said that parents and children were initially separated upon their arrival at the church for safety purposes.

“It had to be done that way because they had to ensure that they knew where every child was, who they were going home with, did they need medical attention, any number of factors,” he explained.

During this time, Gatlin said, the parents were held in the church’s sanctuary, while the students were directed to the fellowship hall, right below.

He described hearing the voices of the children through the air-conditioning vent in the sanctuary, a memory he has not been able to shake.

“I woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning hearing those voices ... thinking of what it would be like to be a parent up above and to be able to hear those voices and not be able to get to their kids below,” he said.

Since Monday’s tragedy at the Covenant School, Gatlin says he has been taking his kids to and from school, but not out of fear. It’s because he can.

Gatlin recalled another memory from the end of the day on Monday, after all the families had gone home, when Covenant School staff, church volunteers and first responders came together to break bread.

“They prayed, they cried and they ate barbecue,” he said. “I hate to say this, but tragedy turns perfect strangers into neighbors. They’re Nashvillians.”