Funerals begin for victims of Nashville shooting

A memorial for the Covenant School victims on 29 March.

The first funeral of a victim of this week's school shooting in Nashville will take place Friday, five days after the horrific attack that left six dead.

Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9, was among three children killed at the city's Covenant School on 27 March.

The funeral comes a day after authorities released chilling audio of 911 calls made during the incident.

The shooter, a 28-year-old former student of the school, was shot and killed by police officers.

According to the BBC's US partner CBS, an obituary given to attendees invited them to wear pink and other bright colours as a tribute to "Evelyn's light and love of colour".

On Saturday, she will be laid to rest in a private family burial plot.

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Two other children - Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, both 9 - were killed in the shooting, alongside three school employees: Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Michael Hill, 61.

Police said they did not believe any of the victims were specifically targeted.

Funerals for Halie Scruggs, Cynthia Peak and William Kinney are also planned for the weekend, and will be followed by funerals for Mr Hill and Ms Koonce early next week.

On Thursday, police released audio from over 20 emergency calls made during the shooting by audibly distressed staff members and members of the community.

In one call, a teacher reported being in a classroom with 17 students and hearing "so many shots".

In another call, a church member - identified as Tom Pulliam, 76 - tells a police dispatcher that he is with a group of people, including children, moving away from the Covenant School.

At one point, Mr Pulliam put an unidentified man on the telephone to describe what happened.

"All I saw was a man holding an assault rifle shooting through the door," the man said. "He's currently in the second grade hallway, upstairs."

Among those who made 911 calls during the shooting was lead pastor Chad Scruggs, whose daughter was killed in the attack.

Mr Scruggs said that he is "getting calls from the inside" and is moving towards the sound of gunfire. There is no indication that he knew that his daughter was among the victims.

Police have yet to reveal a motive for the shooting, although they have said that the suspect, Audrey Hale, conducted surveillance of the premises, drew maps and wrote what police described as a "manifesto".

Ahead of the shooting, Hale had purchased seven guns legally and hid them at her home without her parents' knowledge.

Investigators have also said that she was under "doctor's care for an emotional disorder".