ATLANTA — Georgia Tech head coach Brent Key broke down in tears before spring practice on Wednesday as he spoke about the Nashville school shooting that killed six people, including three children.
As the news in Nashville unfolded, Key said he couldn’t help but think of his mother, a former school teacher, and his young daughter. The football coach went on an impassioned speech calling for change.
“Something’s has to change. I have a chance up here to be in front of a camera. If one person hears me say that, agrees and does something to help force a change and something to happen…and if a 1,000 other people say something negative about it, I don’t care because it worked,” Key said.
“If this one thing I say can help someone else say something and have the guts to stand up and say something. Maybe the guts to stand up and do something, then maybe something would happen.”
Nashville police said 28-year-old Audrey Hale shot and killed six people at The Covenant School on Monday. Police said officers shot and killed Hale, who attended the school at one point, as shots were being fired in a lobby-like area on the second floor.
Head of the school Katherine Koonce, custodian Mike Hill and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak were the adults killed. Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney were the students killed.
Key said he and his wife along with others couldn’t help but cry on Monday. He said he thought of his daughters being in a play at her school at the same time the children in Nashville were shot.
“It’s the most heartbreaking thing in the world to think about your daughter going to school where she is supposed to be safe and protected. It’s [expletive] man.”