It happened on a Monday morning. March 27, 2023. Nashville was just waking up, parents were dropping kids off at The Covenant School, a private Christian academy. You don’t expect it there. People think of private, religious institutions as these safe bubbles, far removed from the "public school problems" we see on the nightly news. But then the glass doors shattered. A former student, heavily armed, walked through those shattered panels and changed the conversation about a school shooting in catholic school and private religious settings forever.
Six people died. Three of them were nine years old.
Honestly, when we talk about school safety, there is this weird, unspoken bias. We assume tuition-paying schools have it handled. We assume the gates and the "God is in control" mantra provide a layer of protection that a local ZIP code doesn't. Nashville proved that’s just not true. It was a wake-up call that hit the heart of the religious community. It wasn't just about the tragedy; it was about the realization that the perpetrator knew the layout because they used to go there. That’s a specific kind of nightmare.
Why a School Shooting in Catholic School or Private Academy Feels Different
When a school shooting in catholic school or a private Christian academy occurs, the psychological fallout is distinct. In a public school, the institution is an arm of the state. In a religious school, the institution is an extension of the family and the faith. When that is violated, the trauma isn't just physical or emotional—it's existential.
Take the 2023 Nashville event. The Covenant School isn't technically Catholic—it's Presbyterian—but it falls under that same umbrella of private, faith-based education that many parents choose specifically for safety. The shooter, Audrey Hale, had attended the school years prior. This highlights a massive security gap: the "insider threat." You can have the best locks in the world, but if the person knows the hallways because they spent their childhood in them, your perimeter is already compromised.
The Security Gap No One Wants to Discuss
Private schools often lack the massive federal funding that public schools get for Resource Officers (SROs). While some states are changing this, many religious schools rely on "soft security." They have a front desk person. They have a buzzer. They don't have a police officer with a rifle in the hallway.
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There's also the "sanctuary" mindset. If you run a church-affiliated school, you want it to feel welcoming. You want it to feel like a place of grace. Putting up bullet-resistant glass and hiring armed guards feels, to some boards of directors, like a betrayal of their mission. But Nashville showed that the mission can't continue if the students aren't alive. Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo, the Metro Nashville officers who entered the building, had to move past a lot of "soft" obstacles to stop the threat. They were inside and engaging the shooter within minutes. It was a masterclass in tactical response, but it happened after the damage was done.
The Nashville Manifesto and the Complexity of Motive
For months after the Covenant shooting, there was this massive tug-of-war over the shooter's writings. People wanted to know: Why? Was it a hate crime against Christians? Was it a mental health collapse?
The leaks that eventually came out suggested a deeply disturbed individual who felt "privileged" kids at the school were an affront to their own internal struggles. This brings up a point we often ignore in the "school shooting in catholic school" discourse: resentment. Private schools are often seen as symbols of status. For a former student who felt like an outcast, that school isn't a sanctuary. It’s a monument to their perceived failure or exclusion.
We saw similar themes in the 1999 Wedgewood Baptist Church shooting, or the 2012 Oikos University shooting. Oikos was a Christian university in Oakland. Seven people died. The shooter was a former student. He was upset about a tuition dispute and felt "disrespected."
People kill where they feel they were hurt.
What the Data Actually Says
If you look at the K-12 School Shooting Database—a project started by David Riedman—you'll see that religious schools are statistically less likely to experience a mass shooting than public schools. But "less likely" isn't "never." The rarity actually makes them more vulnerable because they are less likely to practice active shooter drills with the same intensity as a public school in a high-crime area. Complacency is the biggest killer in private education.
Hardening the "Holy" Perimeter
So, what do you actually do? You can't just pray the problem away. Real safety requires a shift in how we view these buildings.
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- Environmental Design (CPTED): This isn't about bars on windows. It's about clear lines of sight. It's about making sure the "man-trap" entryways (where a visitor is stuck between two locked doors) are standard.
- Behavioral Intervention Teams: Most private schools have a "guidance counselor." They need a threat assessment team. When a former student starts posting weird things or reaches out with grievances, there has to be a protocol that doesn't just involve "praying for them."
- The "Armed Guard" Debate: This is the most divisive issue in religious schools. Many Catholic dioceses have resisted arming teachers. However, after Nashville, we've seen a surge in private schools hiring off-duty police. It’s expensive. It changes the "vibe" of the school. But it works.
The Cost of Silence
One of the biggest hurdles in addressing a school shooting in catholic school or similar environments is the desire for privacy. Private schools are businesses. They don't want a reputation for being "dangerous." This often leads to under-reporting of threats or "quietly" expelling students who show red flags without notifying local law enforcement.
That silence is a death trap.
When a student is expelled from a private academy for violent ideation, and that information isn't shared with the local police, that student becomes a "ghost threat." They are out there, they are angry, and no one is watching them.
Actionable Steps for Parents and Administrators
If you have a kid in a private religious school, or you run one, the "it can't happen here" phase of your life needs to end today. Nashville was the end of that era.
- Audit the Glass: Most shooters get in through the glass. Not the lock. Use 3M security film or actual ballistic glass on all entry points. It buys the police time. Time is the only thing that matters in a shooting.
- Anonymize Reporting: Private school communities are tight-knit. Kids don't want to "snitch" on their friends' siblings. You need a 100% anonymous digital tip line that goes to an outside security firm, not just the principal.
- Review Alumni Access: If you have an "open door" policy for former students to come back and visit favorite teachers, kill it. Visits should be scheduled, vetted, and escorted. No exceptions.
- Stop Using "Soft" Terminology: Don't call it a "safety plan." Call it a "combat survival plan." Changing the language changes the seriousness with which the staff takes the drills.
The reality of a school shooting in catholic school is that the perpetrator often counts on the "kindness" of the institution to get close. They count on the fact that the person at the front desk will be a polite volunteer or a grandmotherly receptionist who will hesitate to hit the panic button.
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We have to train people to be less polite and more observant.
The Covenant School tragedy wasn't just a news cycle. It was a structural failure of our assumptions. Security in a house of God has to be just as rigorous as security in a house of government. Anything less is just an invitation for the next person with a grievance and a rifle.
Check your school's perimeter today. Ask about their threat assessment protocol. If they tell you they "trust in the Lord," remind them that even Nehemiah rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other.
Safety isn't a lack of faith; it's a form of stewardship.