Audrey Hale, 28, was biologically female, but she referred to herself with masculine pronouns. She met her ex on Monday morning Elementary school in Nashville and killed three 9-year-olds and three adults, including the director. This Tuesday, during a search of his home, the police found several weapons. He had used at least three the day before, in one attack planned the attack in detail and captured by security cameras.
According to authorities, Hale had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points. He had also guarded the building before carrying out the massacre. It has not yet been disclosed what prompted the woman to open fire in the police room The School of the Covenant. But she left a manifest that the police are now examining.
“We have a manifesto, we have some writings that we are reviewing that pertain to this date, the actual incident,” he told reporters. “We have a drawn map of how all of this was going to happen.
He said in an interview with NBC News that investigators believe the shooter had “a certain resentment that he had to go to that school.”
The victims included three 9-year-old boys, the school principal, a substitute teacher and a janitor. Amidst the chaos, a family ritual unfolded: Panicked parents rushed to the school to see if their children were safe and tearfully embraced them, and a stunned community held vigils for the victims.
Rachel Dibble, who was at a nearby church where the children were being taken to meet their parents, described the scene as “completely shocked”.
Security cameras at the school caught Hale in full action. I knew the school. She was a former student.
On Monday night, police released about two minutes of edited video taken on camera that showed the young woman driving the car to school from multiple angles, including one that showed children playing on the swing sets at the bottom.
Later, an interior view shows the glass doors of the school being blown up by the woman’s gunfire as she ducks and walks through them.
More footage from inside shows the young woman walking down a school hallway holding a long-barreled pistol and entering a room labeled a “church office,” then returning. In the final part of the cutscene, the shooter can be seen walking down another long corridor with his gun drawn. The shooter is not seen interacting with anyone else in the video, which has no audio.
“People were shaking involuntarily,” said Rachel Dibble. “The boys…started the morning in their cute uniforms, probably had some Froot Loops (cereal) and now their lives have completely changed.”
The police provided unclear information about the woman’s gender. For hours, police identified the attacker as a 28-year-old female, eventually identifying the person as Audrey Elizabeth Hale. Then, at a late afternoon press conference, the police chief said so Hale was transgender. After the press conference, police spokesman Don Aaron declined to elaborate on how Hale was currently identified.
Authorities said Hale was armed with a two “assault” weapons and a pistol. It is believed that at least two of them they were obtained legally in the Nashville area, according to the chief. Police said a search of Hale’s home came through a sawn-off shotgun, a second shotgun, and other unspecified tests.
The victims
The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all aged 9, and adults Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Konce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.
The website of the School of the Covenant, a Presbyterian school founded in 2001, lists Katherine Koonce as the school principal. Her LinkedIn profile says she has been running the school since July 2016. Peak was a substitute teacher and Hill was a caretaker, according to investigators.
Founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, The Covenant School is located in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville, home to the popular Bluebird Café, a typically beloved spot for musicians and songwriters.
The school has approx 200 students from kindergarten to sixth gradeplus about 50 staff members.
“Our community is heartbroken,” said a statement from the school. “We are grieving a huge loss and shocked by the terror that has destroyed our school and our church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the healing process.”
Prior to Monday’s violence in Nashville, there had been seven mass murders in K-12 schools (primaries) since 2006 in which four or more people have died in a 24-hour period, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in association with Northeastern. University. In all of them, the shooters were male.
The database does not include school shootings in which fewer than four people were killed, which were they have become much more common in recent years. Just last week, for example, school shootings in the Denver and Dallas area occurred within two days of each other.
Monday’s tragedy unfolded for about 14 minutes. Police received their first call about an active shooter at 10:13am
Officers began clearing the first floor of the school when they heard gunfire coming from the second level, Aaron said. Police later said the shooter shot at arriving officers from a second-story window and had arrived armed with significant ammunition.
In response, two officers from a five-member team opened fire, killing the suspect at 10:27 am, Aaron said.
Aaron said it there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.
President Joe Biden, speaking at the White House Monday, called the shooting a “The Family’s Worst Nightmare” and once again he begged Congress to ban some semi-automatic weapons.
A city in turmoil wept during numerous Monday night vigils. At the Belmont United Methodist Church, sobs of tears filled the background as wake-goers sang, knelt in prayer, and lit candles. They lamented the nationwide cycle of violent and deadly shootings.
“We need to take a step back. We need to breathe. We must grieve,” said Paul Purdue, senior pastor of the church. “We must remember. We must make room for others who are suffering. We need to hear the cries of our neighbors.”
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Source: Clarin
Mary Ortiz is a seasoned journalist with a passion for world events. As a writer for News Rebeat, she brings a fresh perspective to the latest global happenings and provides in-depth coverage that offers a deeper understanding of the world around us.