A school head described as a saint, a custodian who "absolutely loved his job", and a substitute teacher were among the victims of a shooting that left six dead at a school in Nashville, Tennessee.

Three staff members and three pupils were killed when a 28-year-old former student opened fire at the Covenant School on Monday morning.

The three children - all aged nine and under - have been named as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney.

The three employees were named as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Michael Hill, 61.

Police say they were all targeted at random.

Katherine Koonce is described on Covenant's website as the Head of School. One parent told BBC News that Ms Koonce was a “saint”.

“She did so much for those kids,” a mother with two children enrolled at Covenant told BBC News. “And now gave her life protecting them.”

“She knew every single student by name,” she added. “She did everything to help them when families couldn't afford things, it didn't matter. She found ways for them to stay.”

A welcoming page on the school's website written by Ms Koonce says the school is “about more than simply educating our students”.

She said the school's mission was “helping children become who God intends them to be”.

She is also the author of the book Parenting the Way God Parents: Refusing to Recycle Your Parents' Mistake.

A bio for her on Penguin Random House's website said she had over 18 years of experience and a master's degree “specializing in learning, behavior, and attention difficulties”.

Mike Hill was a custodian at the school. On Facebook, a woman identifying herself as his daughter said that he had “absolutely loved” working at Covenant.

On Facebook, Tim Dunavant, a pastor at Harstville First United Methodist Church, said he would miss “those encouraging texts out of the blue” from Mr. Hill.

Mr. Dunavant said he formerly worked at Covenant and had hired Mr. Hill over 13 years ago.

He said he would not be surprised if it turned out Mr. Hill had sacrificed his life to save others because “he's the kind of guy that would do that”.

Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, senior pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church, church officials told CBS News.

Cynthia Peak was a substitute teacher working at the school on the day of the attack, police say.

At a church service held only hours after the shooting, a senior minister said that Evelyn Dieckhaus was in the third grade when she died, according to the Tennessean newspaper.

Her sister, a fifth grader, cried during the service.

“I don't want to be an only child,” she said, according to the newspaper.

Media caption, (BBC)

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