Funeral for nine-year-old Evelyn Dieckhaus will be first for Nashville shooting victims

She was one of three children and three staff, including the school principal, who were gunned down last Monday by a 28-year-old who had previously attended the private Christian school and burst in armed with semi-automatic weapons. The shooter was killed inside the school by police.

In addition to Dieckhaus, those killed at the Covenant school were Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, nine, head teacher Katherine Koonce, 60, Mike Hill, 61, a custodian and Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher.

More funerals will take place this weekend and into next week.

The text also noted that her sister Eleanor was her best friend and Evelyn also loved her dogs, Mable and Birdie, and wanted a rat for her 10th birthday present.