‘I Don’t Want To Be An Only Child’: Older Sister Of Nashville Victim Cries At Vigil

The older sister of one of the 9-year-old victims in the Nashville school massacre had a heartbreaking response to the shooting at a vigil for the victims Monday night.

The older sister of Evelyn Dieckhaus, a third grader who was shot at The Covenant School, made the comments during a vigil for the victims at Woodmont Christian Church. Dieckhaus, along with two other children and three adults, was murdered at The Covenant School, which is affiliated with the conservative evangelical Presbyterian Church in America.

“I don’t want to be an only child,” she said.

One local woman, Sarah Drury, who said she taught both Dieckhaus sisters in Sunday school at Woodmont Christian Church, wrote an online tribute for Evelyn.

“One of the 9-year-old victims of the Nashville school shooting goes to my church,” Sarah Drury, a Sunday School teacher at Woodmont Christ Church, wrote in an online tribute. “Her name is Evelyn Dieckhaus. She was adorable. I taught her equally angelic big sister in Sunday school.”

“Her mom Katy volunteered in our children’s ministry …  such a sweet Christian family,” she continued. “We had a prayer vigil tonight at our church. We are, the whole city, saturated in grief. Now. It’s time to marry prayer and grief with action.”

Covenant School said it was “shattered” by the shooting, which police say was committed by a woman who identifies as a man.

“Our community is heartbroken. We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing,” the school said in a statement.

Other churches across the city also hosted vigils to pray for the families of those impacted by the shooting.

“It has been a hard day,” Woodmont Baptist Church senior pastor Nathan Parker stated. “We are sad. Sad for the families who came rushing to our church. Sad for those whose lives will never be the same because of the trauma inflicted on them. Sad because we live in a world broken by sin, suffering, and death.”

At a vigil at Belmont United Methodist Church senior pastor Paul Perdue said, “We need to step back. We need to breathe. We need to grieve. We need to remember. We need to make space for others who are grieving. We need to hear the cries of our neighbors.”

The victims in the shooting were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus (9), Hallie Scruggs (9), William Kinney (9), Dr. Katherine Koonce (60),  Cynthia Peak (61), and Mike Hill, 61, a school custodian.

The massacre came the same week that transgender activists had scheduled a “Day of Vengeance.” The group–run in part by a former Democratic staffer–also raised money for firearms training and specifically called for action in Nashville.

Police, who said that they found a “manifesto” written by the suspected shooter, have still not described a motive for the shooting.

Related: Trans Activists Called For ‘Day Of Vengeance’ Before Nashville Shooting

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