Brother of 9-year-old school shooting victim breaks down as he reveals what he wants 'the world to know' about his sister

It's been two years since nine-year-old Hallie Scruggs was murdered after a shooter broke into her Nashville school, and still, her family are reminded of their gut-wrenching loss every single morning.

That's because, since 27 March 2023 - the day she was fatally shot by 28-year-old Aiden Hale - the youngster's childhood bedroom door has been left open, and her belongings left untouched.

No element of the room has been changed by her parents, Chad and Jada Scruggs, who hope to memorialise the existence of their daughter, whose life was so suddenly stolen from her.

The incomparable heartache inflicted by school shootings like the Nashville Covenant Shooting is something that CBS Evening News broadcaster Steve Hartman is all too familiar with, having been appointed to report on them since 1997.

By his own admission, having become somewhat numb to these harrowing incidents over time, the journalist set out on a mission of his own - to turn the focus from the perpetrators to their victims.

With this in mind, Hartman kickstarted a private project seven years ago that would see him visiting the empty rooms left behind by every child murdered in America by a school shooter.

As part of his devastating new Netflix documentary short All The Empty Rooms, the reporter and his photographer friend, Lou Bopp, met with the parents of Hallie Scruggs.

The youngster was killed along with two other children, both nine, and three teachers, when former student Hale, armed with an AR-15-style pistol, a KelTec SUB-2000, and a handgun, entered her school grounds and opened fire.

The nine-year-old was one of the six victims of the shooting (60 Minutes)

'She was a great person'

Visiting Hallie's bedroom to take photographs, Hartman and Bopp meet with her big brothers, John and Charlie Scruggs, the latter of whom became teary when asked about her legacy.

"I’d want the world to know that she was a great person, a good little sister," Charlie cried.

John also went on to recall: "She was really outgoing. She was also a little sister, so she would, like, get a little annoying. It was good, though."

Smiling, Charlie chimed in again: "Yeah, funny, a little annoying."

He continued: "She was pretty competitive with us, you know? She liked sports, too. That's kind of how we hung out around her.

Hallie's brothers both speak in the documentary (Netflix)

"She was always with us."

'I feel like a lot of crying happens in that room'

On the impact that her daughter's room has had on her ability to heal, mum Jada also explained in the harrowing doc: "I’ll just go and look around. I’ll look at all her little trinkets and stuffed animals, and little shells that she collected.

"I’ll smell her blankie that she slept with every night, and I feel like a lot of crying happens in that room."

This is also what Hallie's father, Chad, did on the day of the shooting.

Hallie's room has remained untouched since her murder (Netflix)

Hartman and Bopp took pictures of Hallie's bedroom (Netflix)

'I wanted her smell back'

"I went into her room that night, and just lay down, and wept," he recalled. "What you want is something that you can’t have. I wanted her smell back.

"I wanted to touch her. I wanted to feel her sweaty hair. Her bed was the closest thing I could get to that."

Of the 'legacy' her room has left behind, Chad continued: "The room helps because there are a lot of moments where you want to be sad, because the sadness is a part of connecting with her."

All The Empty Rooms is now available to stream on Netflix.