NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — After the tragic Covenant School shooting, many are left with one burning question: Why? 

Local security consultant JC Shegog is an Army Veteran and former police officer, and he still does contract military work. He’s spent much of his career studying attacks like these and trying to understand the motives behind mass shootings.  

He spoke with News 2 the day after the tragedy that will forever shake Nashville.  

“The children and the elderly and the disabled are our most vulnerable targets and if you get somebody motivated enough, and somebody that’s evil enough, that’s who and what they’re going to go after,” Shegog said. “Just like in the wild, a predator is going to go after what appears to be the weakest from the group. And this is the same mentality that your mass shooters, mass killers will use in order to get their point across.” 

Shegog said one unique aspect of the Nashville school shooting was the suspect’s gender. Police identified Audrey Hale as transgender.  

“The mass shooter, the active shooter, even your suicide bombers, they tend to be male, assigned male at birth. But usually, when there’s a female involved, it’s usually because of the ideology, sociological or religious,” Shegog explained. 

Moving forward, Shegog said the best thing to focus on is preventing and preparing for the next crisis that strikes.  

“If you try to figure out what someone else has done, especially if they’re not in that right frame of mind, you’ll go out of your mind trying to figure out what’s in their mind.” 

Shegog said in his consulting work, he looks for measures and countermeasures that can be used against a threat. To prepare students fully for events like these, he said, it would require a military-like mindset. 

He believes all schools need to have trained professionals inside whose sole job is security. He said one day he hopes schools will become a place so hard to target, suspects don’t even consider them when planning attacks.  

Shegog explained what went through his mind when reviewing body camera footage.  

“The security element, where was the physical security element? Situations like that, you want them to slow down, keep them occupied until the cavalry arrive and that was the first thing that went through my mind, where was the physical security element?” he said.