Melissa Joan Hart and her husband, Mark Wilkerson, used to live in Westport, Connecticut, with their three children. Their home was roughly 20 miles away from Newport, where a 20-year-old opened fire inside Sandy Hook Elementary School – killing 26 people, including 20 children and six staff members.
Seven years later, the family packed up and moved to Lake Tahoe before settling down in Nashville in 2020. Their life has been picture-perfect since moving to the Music City, but that perfect picture was threatened on Monday, March 27, when they were forced to experience their second school shooting.
The shooting occurred on Monday morning at The Covenant School – a private Presbyterian school located in Green Hills, a small neighborhood in Nashville. A former student, who identified as transgender, opened fire after gaining entry inside the school, ultimately killing three children and three staff members.
On Tuesday, Melissa Joan Hart took to her Instagram to share her experience this time around. She revealed that her three sons – Mason, 17, Braydon, 15, and Tucker, 10 – go to a nearby school before explaining that this is now their second experience being in ‘close proximity’ to a school shooting.
“Luckily, we are okay, but me and my husband were on our way to school for conferences, and luckily our kids weren’t in today,” she explained. “We helped a class of kindergarteners across a busy highway. They were climbing out of the woods, they were trying to escape the shooter situation at their school.”
She went on to explain that they helped the students and teachers across the highway and even helped one of the students reunite with their mother. “I don’t know what to say anymore. It is just – enough is enough. And just pray – pray for the families,” she said – clearly emotional from the experience.
“Prayers today, Action tomorrow. This was too raw to post yesterday but wanted you to hear this story,” she wrote in the Instagram caption. She also explained the experience in an Instagram post the day before, sharing a picture of the school that read ‘Praying for Covenant Presbyterian Covenant School.’
Melissa Joan Hart Wants Prayers Today, Action Tomorrow
The story shared by Melissa Joan Hart is just one of the many stories being shared on social media right now. Fellow Nashville resident Shawn Johnson also lives nearby The Covenant School and took to her Instagram Story recently to detail her experience as her children’s school was on lockdown at the time.
In the hours following the tragedy, police identified the shooter as Audrey Elizabeth Hale – a 28-year-old former student of the school, which teaches students from pre-K up to 6th grade. After 14 minutes of terror, two police officers were credited with shooting and killing the suspect on the second floor.
The three children who were killed in the shooting were later identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kenney, and Hallie Scruggs – all of whom were 9-year-old students at the school. Scruggs’ father, Chad Scruggs, was the senior pastor at the Covenant Presbyterian Church – located next to the school.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: Identities of the 6 Victims of the Tennessee School Shooting Revealed
The three staff members were later identified as Michael Hill, 61, Cynthia Peak, 61, and Katherine Koonce, 60. Hill was a custodian at the school, Peak was a substitute teacher at the school, and Koonce was the school’s principal. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of those involved.
Mamas Uncut is THE online place for moms. We cover the latest about motherhood, parenting, and entertainment as well – all with a mom-focused twist. So if you're looking for parenting advice from real parents, we have plenty of it, all for moms from moms, and also experts. Because, at the end of the day, our mission is focused solely on empowering moms and moms-to-be with the knowledge and answers they’re looking for in one safe space.