Joe Biden calls Nashville Covenant school shooting 'sick'

US President Joe Biden labelled the Nashville Covenant school shooting that claimed six lives "sick", urging Congress to pass an assault weapons ban.

Biden said that gun violence was "ripping the soul of this nation" while speaking of the ban on weapons. The shooting incident at Nashville Covenant school killed three children.

The president said that the Nashville shooting suspect allegedly had two assault weapons and an AK-47.

While speaking at the Small Business Administration Women's Business Summit, he said: "It's just sick. You know, we're still gathering the facts of what happened and why. And we do know that, as of now, there are a number of people who are not going to, did not make it, including children." He added that the incident was a family's "worst nightmare". 

Biden praised the police for responding immediately and dealing with the situation in minutes. He said that more needed to be done to control gun violence so that the schools are protected and not turned into "prisons".

Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said that the suspect was identified as  Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old Nashville resident, CNN reported.

The six victims of the Covenant school shooting include three children who were all nine years old, the Metro Nashville Police Department said in a tweet.

"The 6 victims fatally shot by the active shooter at Covenant School are identified as: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, Cynthia Peak, age 61, Katherine Koonce, age 60, and Mike Hill, age 61," Metro Nashville Police Department said on Twitter.

Drake said in a press conference, that the shooter had detailed maps of Covenant School. She entered the school via one of the doors.