A nine-year-old girl tragically killed by the Nashville shooter tried to prevent the massacre in her final moments by pulling a fire alarm.
Evelyn Dieckhaus was eulogized at a vigil at Woodmont Christian Church on Monday.
The young girl had been desperately trying to pull the fire alarm to summon help when the shooter stormed the school on Monday, reports say.
“I don’t want to be an only child,” Evelyn’s older sister, Eleanor, said in a heartbreaking response.
The Dieckhaus family released a statement describing the unbearable loss of their child.
“Our hearts are completely broken,” the family said.
“We cannot believe this has happened. Evelyn was a shining light in this world. We appreciate all the love and support but ask for space as we grieve,” they added.
Sarah Drury, a local woman who taught Evelyn in Sunday school at Woodmont Christian Church, described her as “adorable.”
“One of the 9-year-old victims of the Nashville school shooting goes to my church,” Drury wrote in an online tribute.
“Her name is Evelyn Dieckhaus. She was adorable. I taught her equally angelic big sister in Sunday school,” she added, the Daily Mail reported.
“Her mom Katy volunteered in our children’s ministry … such a sweet Christian family,” she continued. “We had a prayer vigil tonight at our church. We are, the whole city, saturated in grief. Now. It’s time to marry prayer and grief with action.”
The Covenant School said the community is s “shattered and “heartbroken” by the shooting.
“Our community is heartbroken. We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing,” the school said in a statement.
The killer, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, a biological female identifying as a man, was shot by police on the second floor.
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