Two local NBC news anchors openly sobbed during live broadcasts while covering the terrible Nashville school shooting on Monday, which killed at least six people, including three Covenant School students.
The reporters’ breakdown in the video has since gone viral on social media, with thousands of views.
The broadcasters on WSMV in Nashville struggled to remain calm as they delivered the devastating news. Holly Thompson was overtaken with sadness and found it difficult to speak after learning that an active shooter had been confirmed dead and that other children had also perished in the incident. “Oh my goodness!” she shouted, overcome by emotion.
Thompson expressed his condolences, saying, “My heart is just hurting right now.” “Our thoughts and prayers are with these families.”
Her co-anchor Amanda Hara briefly took over the broadcast before handing it off to reporter Michael Warrick, who was standing outside the studio.
Later, Thompson returned and had to console Hara, who was fighting to hold back tears as she spoke about how families were unable to obtain real-time information on their children’s safety as the nightmare was unfolding. “There are just so many questions and people wanting to know what was going on,” she continued, her voice cracking visibly. ‘There aren’t any words.”
Hara also burst into tears earlier in the broadcast when she revealed how her own children’s schools had been placed on lockdown as a precaution, adding to the dread of the situation.
In the aftermath of the tragedy in Nashville, President Joe Biden urged Congress once more to enact his assault weapons ban. “It’s heartbreaking, a family’s worst nightmare,’ he said. ‘It’s ripping at the soul of this nation, ripping at the very soul of this nation.”