Two Nashville anchors broke down in tears on Monday during coverage of the deadly mass shooting at a local Christian school.
During the broadcast, WSMV's Holly Thompson appeared visibly shaken as she reported that three children had been killed.
"My heart is just hurting right now. Thoughts and prayers for these families," Thompson said as her voice broke.
Her co-anchor Amanda Hara comforted Thompson by lightly grabbing her arm and briefly taking over the broadcast before handing it over to reporter Michael Warrick.
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Later, Thompson returned the kind gesture and comforted Hara after the channel aired an emotional interview with an anxious mother at the scene of the tragedy.
Hara reported that they had been hearing from parents asking for information about the tragedy and the fate of their children.
"There are just so many questions and people wanting to know," Hara said before bursting into tears. Thompson then lightly tapped her on the arm and continued the coverage.
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Earlier in the coverage, Hara held back her tears as she revealed that she had been receiving messages from her own child's school, which had gone into lockdown as a precautionary measure. Thompson attempted to comfort her when Hara said she was working with security to ensure her children were safe.
The shooting at Covenant School, a Tennessee private Christian grade school, left three students and three adults dead, including the head of the school. The shooter was killed by police, authorities said.
The shooter was identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a Nashville resident, a biological woman who identified as a transgender man
Police identified the victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and 61-year-old Mike Hill. According to the school's website, Koonce was the head of school at Covenant.
On Monday, the FBI released data on active shootings for 2021. The agency said there were 61 such incidents that year with all but one committed by a male. The number of shootings was a 50% increase from 2020, the FBI said.
Fox News' Anders Hagstrom and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
