Antioch High School shooter involved in cafeteria murder-suicide was ROTC cadet

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Thursday, January 23, 2025

{The teenager} who fatally shot one pupil and injured one other earlier than taking his personal life contained in the cafeteria of Antioch Excessive Faculty in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday has been recognized by authorities as Solomon Henderson, a Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps cadet who seems to have left behind a darkish manifesto explaining his motives.

“We had been in ROTC collectively, this 12 months too and he was at all times high of the category at all times doing his work,” an unidentified pupil instructed WKRN. “To know that he did stuff about that, and he deliberate to do it, you simply do not know the way anybody actually is.”

Situated some 12 miles southeast of downtown Nashville, Antioch Excessive Faculty was positioned underneath lockdown Wednesday after 17-year-old Henderson opened hearth within the faculty’s cafeteria. He killed a feminine pupil, recognized as 16-year-old Josselin Corea Escalante, and injured a male pupil within the arm.

Chief John Drake of the Metro Nashville Police Division mentioned that Henderson traveled to the highschool on the college bus after which retrieved a pistol from the restroom earlier than launching his assault within the cafeteria. When he was executed, Henderson fatally shot himself within the head. Drake mentioned Henderson could have had one “prior incident” on the faculty, however he wasn’t sure of the small print.

In an announcement shared on X, Kick, a video livestreaming service the place the taking pictures was partially streamed, officers mentioned they shortly eliminated the recording of the occasion and are actually working with regulation enforcement.

“On January 22, an assault occurred in Nashville, Tennessee, and was partially livestreamed. We lengthen our ideas to everybody impacted by this occasion. KICK quickly banned the account and eliminated the video,” the corporate mentioned. “Violence has no place on KICK. We’re actively working with regulation enforcement and taking all acceptable steps to assist their investigation.”

Authorities are investigating on-line supplies believed to have been posted by Henderson, together with an alleged manifesto uploaded to his Instagram account previous to the taking pictures, which contained a FAQ-style part detailing his motives. It included statements comparable to “To your enjoyment” and references to race, tradition, and sexuality.

“Murder Unit detectives together with their regulation enforcement companions within the MNPD and federal/state companies are analyzing very regarding on-line writings and social media posts related to 17-year-old Solomon Henderson as they work to ascertain the motive behind Henderson’s gunfire this morning in Antioch Excessive Faculty’s cafeteria,” the MNPD mentioned in a information launch.

Investigators steered that the 2 college students struck throughout Henderson’s assault may have been random victims as “the investigation thus far has not established a connection between Henderson and the 2 taking pictures victims.”

They additional famous that two faculty useful resource officers who had been assigned to Antioch Excessive Faculty had been in one other a part of the constructing when the taking pictures began and acquired to the scene “simply after Henderson killed himself.”

“On behalf of this complete police division, I lengthen our deep condolences to Antioch Excessive college students, mother and father, and workers,” Drake mentioned. “Our officers and counselors will work to be a part of the therapeutic course of within the days and weeks forward.”

Nonetheless, Yvelle Walden, one other Antioch Excessive Faculty pupil who knew Henderson, instructed Fox17 that she couldn’t reconcile Henderson’s alleged actions with the particular person she knew him to be.

“He was a candy boy,” Walden mentioned. “He actually did not trigger any issues. He got here to class on time. He did his work quietly and would thoughts his enterprise.”