Reporter covering Nashville massacre reveals on-air that she survived school shooting in 2010 

A news reporter broadcasting live from the scene of the Nashville elementary school shooting has revealed that she is a survivor of the school shooting.

Joylyn Bukovac was reporting on scene from The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, after 28-year-old transgender Audrey Hale shot and killed three children and three adults on Monday.

While providing updates to WSMV 4 viewers about the school shooting, Bukovac revealed that she was, in fact, a victim herself, and the traumatic ordeal brought back “flooded” memories.

She was in the eighth grade at Discovery Middle School in Madison, Alabama, on February 5, 2010 when gunshots went off in the hallway of her school, killing one of her classmates.

Bukovac, while on the air, said: ‘This is something that touches me very closely. In fact, I am a survivor of the school shooting. I was in high school. This brings back a lot of hard memories that I’m going through.’

Transgender shooter Audrey Hale, 28, (pictured inside The Covenant School Monday) shot and killed three children and three adults at the Tennessee school. Bukovac was at the scene reporting on the massacre.

Maintaining her composure, she went on to give those children’s parents advice on what to do next, while admitting that it took about two years for her to fully open up about her own experience with school shootings.

Bukovac was later praised, not only by her co-workers, but also by a large number of viewers online for her professionalism and composure during what must have been a difficult broadcast.

In the 2010 Discovery Middle School shooting, 14-year-old Todd Brown was shot and killed by 15-year-old Hammad Memon.

Bukovac added: ‘The impact they are going to feel is going to be unfathomable.

“I was in the hallway when the gunman opened fire in the shooting at my school, I was in eighth grade at the time. She really wasn’t ready to talk about it for two years.

“I hid under the bleachers in my choir class and those minutes and hours of waiting to be released by police officers felt like a lifetime. So I know exactly what some of these kids are going through today.

I’m a mom now, so I’m trying to put myself in those shoes.

Writing on Twitter after her broadcast, the reporter said: ‘I appreciate all the support I’ve received after sharing my story.

“I don’t talk about it much, but I often think about what happened on February 5, 2010. I just want people to know that they are not alone. I also want to discuss solutions. As a mother, I am worried about the future.’

Hammad Memon (left) shot Todd Brown (right) at Discovery Middle School in February 2010, the school shooting reported by reporter Joylyn Bukovac.

The reporter maintained her composure as she recalled the trauma of the February 2010 shooting.

The six victims of the shooting at The Covenant School were identified Monday.

They were nine-year-old Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, and three staff members, Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill, both 61, and the school’s principal, Dr. Katherine Koonce, 60.

Hale entered The Covenant School at around 10:13 a.m., opened fire, and was killed by police less than 15 minutes later.

After the murder, parents rushed to the school to see if their children were safe and tearfully hugged them, and a stunned community held vigils for the victims.

It’s unclear what Hale’s motive was, but police believe he attended the school at some point. She had drawn and detailed maps of the school and had been watching her, according to police.

Police said Hale left behind a manifesto that he believes will give them a motive for the massacre, the 129th in the United States in 2023.

Audrey Hale (pictured) was responsible for the lives of six people at the Tennessee school

Bukovac was praised, not only by her co-workers, but also by a large number of viewers online for her professionalism and composure during what must have been a difficult broadcast.