As Nashville residents hold vigils for the victims of Monday's mass shooting at a school, this corner of a city known for its music and live entertainment has fallen into a grief-stricken hush.
The sorrow and confusion was evident everywhere on Tuesday, but perhaps it stung the most in the Green Hills community, where the Covenant School sits on the top of a quiet hill, surrounded by trees - a picturesque escape from an otherwise blaring city.
Locals kept arriving throughout the day to leave flowers, notes and cuddly toys for the youngest of the victims at a makeshift memorial outside the privately run Christian school.
And at a church down the road, others gathered for a religious service of prayer.
"Nashville is a wonderful place to be and I feel like that bubble has burst now," said resident Laura Morris, who attended the service. "I don't want people to see us in that light."
Ms Morris, who has lived in the city for two decades, said she cherished the sense of community - never expecting a "senseless tragedy" like this could happen here.
