Nearly 3 years on, therapy dogs provide comfort to survivors of Nashville school shooting: "They can take your tears"
January 16, 2026 / 8:05 PM EST / CBS News
TL;DR
- Sgt. Bo, a therapy dog belonging to retired Nashville police officer Faye Okert, won the American Humane Society's 2025 Hero Dog Award.
- Bo provided comfort to children at the Covenant School in Nashville following a mass shooting in March 2023.
- Bo and other therapy dogs from Comfort Connections visited the school to help children cope with grief and fear.
- Children reported that the dogs helped them feel safer and calmer, allowing them to process their emotions.
- Eleanor Dieckhaus, who lost her sister in the shooting, found comfort and a way to express her emotions through the dogs.