Nashville: Three children were killed in a shooting at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday morning before police "engaged" the suspected attacker, leaving the suspect dead, local officials said.

The shooting happened at The Covenant School, where the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said in a statement that the suspect was dead but did not specify exactly what led to the death. It did not specify whether the suspect was male or female.

Three children were pronounced dead after arriving at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, John Howser, a hospital spokesperson, said in a statement, according to the local news channel WKRN-TV.

The Nashville Fire Department said on Twitter there are “multiple patients” but their conditions were not immediately clear. The shooting occurred at The Covenant School.

The shooter died after being “engaged by” officers, Metro Nashville Police said in a Twitter post. It was not immediately clear whether the shooter died by suicide or was shot by police.

The Covenant School has had an enrollment of about 200 students from preschool to sixth grade in recent years and was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the school’s website.