Credit: Reddit user u/justinjm1Walt Disney World Resort paid a solemn tribute to the six victims of the tragic Nashville shooting on Monday.
Three adults and three nine-year-olds are dead after 28-year-old Audrey Hale opened fire inside The Covenant School, a private Catholic school in Nashville. The shooter was killed by police less than fifteen minutes after the tragedy, considered a “targeted attack,” began.
Child victims include Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney – all nine years old. Head of School Katherine Koonce, 60; substitute teacher Katherine Peak, 61; and custodian Mike Hill, 61, were also murdered in the school shooting, according to the Nashville police.
Reddit user u/justinjm1 shared this photo of a flag at half mast outside Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park on Tuesday:
Disney World flag at half mast, after three children were murdered at school
by u/justinjm1 in pics
The Nashville school shooting marks yet another tragic mass shooting, a rising trend in the United States according to the BBC. It follows a May 2022 elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, where nineteen children and two adults were killed.
The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger has long advocated gun control. The recently-returned CEO attended Sandy Hook Promise’s 10-Year Remembrance Benefit in December, where he was honored as a champion of gun violence prevention alongside former President Barack Obama and actor Matthew McConaughey.
Sandy Hook Promise was started by the parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on December 14, 2012. The nonprofit educates parents and students on the warning signs of gun violence to prevent it before a tragedy occurs.
During a brief speech, Iger praised the mission of Sandy Hook Promise and said preventing gun violence “should be among our highest priorities.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, Iger was honored thanks to his support of gun reform and Sandy Hook Promise’s Start With Hello initiative, which works to prevent social isolation.
“As a grandfather, as a father, as CEO of The Walt Disney Company, I believe there is no greater or more important task than ensuring the safety and well-being of our children,” Iger said at the time. “Those of us who are in positions to affect change, whether it’s by influencing laws of shaping culture or supporting organizations on the frontlines, I think we have an extra responsibility.”
The Inside the Magic team sends our best wishes to the victims and families affected by the Nashville shooting.