Melissa Joan Hart was just around the corner from Covenant Elementary School, Nashville, when the devastating school shooting broke out on Monday (27 March).
The Sabrina The Teenage Witch star shared that she and her husband had been driving nearby when they saw little children run out onto the road to escape the deadly scene.
Six people, including three nine-year-old children, were killed at the private school on Monday before the attacker was fatally shot by police.
Taking to Instagram, Melissa spoke about how she found herself 'helping a class of kindergarteners across a busy highway' to reunite them with their teacher and families on Monday morning.
Trying her best to hold back tears after the traumatic event, Melissa explained: "My kids go to school right next to the school where there was a shooting today."
She added that the incident was especially horrifying, since she and her husband Mark Wilkerson had moved to Tennessee from Connecticut with their three children Mason, 17, Braydon, 15, and Tucker, 10.
In the emotional video, Melissa revealed that her kids used to be in a school that was 'a little ways down from Sandy Hook', where a school shooter killed 26 people back in 2012.
"So this is our second experience with a school shooting with our kids being in close proximity," she noted.
Recounting what went down on Monday, Melissa shared: "Luckily we are all okay. But my husband and I were on the way to school for conferences - luckily our kids weren't in today.
"We helped a class of kindergarteners across a busy highway. They were climbing out of the woods. They were trying to escape the shooter situation at their school.
"So we helped all these tiny little kids cross the road and get [to] their teachers … We helped a mom reunite with her children."
Through tears, she added: “I don’t just don’t know what to say anymore. Enough is enough. And just pray. Prayer for the families."
The shooter, who has since been identified as former student of Covenant School Audrey Hale, shot through the building's locked doors, armed with two assault rifles and a handgun.
The six victims of the shooting have since been identified by police officials as Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kenney and Hallie Scruggs, all 9-year-old students, custodian Michael Hill, 61, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and the school's principal Katherine Koonce, 60.
If you’ve been affected by the contents of this article you can contact the SAMHSA Disaster Distress Hotline on 800-985-5990 or 800-846-8517 if you’re hearing impaired. Or you can text ‘TalkWithUs’ to 66746. The hotline provides 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors for people experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters. The helpline Is toll-free, multilingual and confidential and available to all residents in the US and its territories.
Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@melissajoanhart/Metropolitan Nashville Police
Ali Condon