The pastor at Covenant School, Chad Scruggs, where three adults and three children were killed by shooter Audrey Hale, was reportedly counseling Hale before the tragedy. Scruggs’ daughter Hallie, 9, was one of the victims in the shooting.
In an interview with Inside Edition, former Covenant School pastor Jim Bachmann said Scruggs was acting as Hale’s private counselor. Hale appeared to be searching for Scruggs, Bachmann said, after watching the surveillance footage of Hale prowling the halls of the school for victims.
“Something didn’t sit right with her,” Bachmann said. A heavily-armed Hale blasted through the glass doors on the side of the school, and went on a killing spree that lasted almost 15 minutes before being killed by police.
“If she had found Chad, if she had tried to kill him, maybe she would have left the daughter alone,” Bachmann said. There are no details available at the time of this writing as to why Scruggs was counseling Hale, or of the parameters, protocol, or approach of the counseling.
There’s also no motive released yet by police, but they are studying a manifesto left behind by the shooter, who according to friends and a college instructor, was trans. Hale reportedly had plans to attack two other schools, but jettisoned those plans after deciding the other schools’ security made them less vulnerable.
Hale sent a message to a former classmate before the shooting: “I’m planning to die today … You’ll probably hear about me on the news.”
In addition to Hallie Scruggs, students Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney were also murdered. The adults killed were janitor Mike Hill, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, and headmistress Katherine Koonce.
Koonce is being praised as a hero after she reportedly ran at the shooter when she heard the shooting begin. Russ Pulley, Nashville city council member and previously an FBI agent, praised Koonce on Fox News:
“It is my understanding from a witness at the school that Katherine Koonce was on a Zoom call when she heard the first shot. She immediately ended the call, got up and headed straight for the shooter. She did what principals and headmasters do; she protected her children. In addition, she prepared the school by seeking advanced-level active-shooter training, and from witnesses at the scene, this protocol – details of which I cannot provide – saved countless lives.”
Hallie Scruggs was born in Dallas the same year her father, Pastor Chad Scruggs, started at Park Cities Presbyterian Church (PCPC), per local reports, where a special service was held for the victims on Tuesday.
PCPC senior pastor Mark Davis said a few words in remembrance of Hallie at the sevice.
“What a joy she was to so many, how fun she was, and Lord, help us to picture her where she is now.”
