Police-released video shows the moments the school shooter drove to the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, parked the car, and shot into the building before killing three children and three adults in the latest mass shooting to traumatize the nation.
The violent moments leading up to the shooting show a premeditated attack from several angles. The shooter, identified by police as Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old biological woman who identified as a transgender man, carried two assault-type guns and a 9-millimeter pistol, according to police. Hale was a former student at the school and lived in the Nashville area.
Active shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale drove to Covenant Church/School in her Honda Fit this morning, parked, and shot her way into the building. She was armed with 2 assault-type guns and a 9 millimeter pistol. pic.twitter.com/mIk2pDmCwQ
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 28, 2023
NASHVILLE SHOOTING: KILLER AUDREY HALE IDENTIFIED AS TRANSGENDER
The video also shows the moments before the suspect shot out the windows of the side doors to the building and gained entry inside. On a sunny Monday morning, Hale drove a Honda Fit to the school, passed at least one man who can be seen standing by what appears to be a leafblower in the parking lot, and parked the car. There is no audio in the video, and it is unclear what that man did if/when he heard the first shots.
The victims of the shooting have been identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9. The adult victims are Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61. Pictures released Monday showed the frantic and distressing moments when law enforcement worked to get children and staff to their families safely and efficiently.
“When we send our kids to school, we expect them to live, learn, have fun, and come back from that day’s experience. We don’t anticipate things like this,” Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Monday. Drake added that the investigation led law enforcement to Hale’s home, where they found detailed maps of the school, including entry points and a manifesto relating to the day’s shooting.
In Hale’s home, there was another location mentioned in the Nashville area, but due to security restrictions, police said Hale decided not to carry out a shooting at that school, adding that police have a working theory on a motive but are not ready to release it.
Once officers arrived at the school and engaged Hale, the shooter fired multiple shots, and two officers of the five-person team returned fire. Hale was fatally shot at 10:27 a.m.
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The Covenant School is a private Christian school for preschool through sixth-grade students. Last year, the school held an active shooter drill, per News Channel 5.
The private school has had an enrollment of between 195 and 210 students in recent years and was founded as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, per the school’s website.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story reported Hale was a biological man who identified as a woman. Hale was a biological woman who identified as a man. The Washington Examiner regrets the error.
