The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) is investigating after reports of shots fired at the LEAD Brick Church Middle School during a basketball game on Friday night.
Police were called to the middle school due to a fight that began inside, where students were competing in a basketball game, before the participants eventually left the building and continued the altercation outside, according to WKRN. Quoting law enforcement present at the scene, the outlet reported “one person shot at the victim,” who was not struck by the bullet.
While the fight began inside the school, it is not clear how many were involved in the violence. WSMV reported the fight spread from the school to the school’s parking lot which is adjacent to Brick Church Pike, and reported multiple shots were fired.
Both the shooter and the victim reportedly fled law enforcement, WKRN reported, while WSMV added that police say the shooter “fled the scene in a black four-door Kia sedan on Brick Church Pike,” and confirmed police are pursuing leads to identify the shooter.
The LEAD Brick Church Middle School currently holds a low, 1.1 score from the Tennessee Department of Education for academic achievement, meaning just 5.7 percent of the school’s 268 students are considered proficient at math and English. Additionally, just 47.5 percent of the school’s students meet Tennessee’s expectations for English language proficiency for their age group.
Additionally, the school is designated a Priority School by the Tennessee Department of Education, which means the agency identified it as among “the lowest performing 5% of schools based on multiple years of” Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program (TCAP) results.
Taxpayers spend $19,170.64 per student at the school, which is about $1,500 more than the district average, and about $8,500 more than the Tennessee average.
LEAD Public Schools, which operates a chain of charter schools in Tennessee, reveals on its website that the Brick Church middle school “became part of the LEAD network in 2012 through a partnership with the state to turnaround the school.” The group reports that Brick Church “earned a Level 5” on the statewide Tennessee Value-Added Assessment System in the 2018-2019 and 2021-2022 school years.
An email from The Tennessee Star to LEAD, which inquired about the identity of the suspect and whether the individuals were connected to the school, did not receive a response by press time.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
