Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale was “heartbroken” over the 2022 death of a girl she was “infatuated” with, who had played on the same basketball team in school.
Samira Hardcastle told The Post that “tomboyish” Hale had been deeply affected by the death of Sydney Sims, who was killed in a vehicle accident in August 2022, according to an obituary.
Hardcastle, a classmate of both girls in middle and high school, said, “After Sydney’s tragic death, Audrey was really heartbroken over it … I just feel like she took it differently than some of us did. She was still posting about Sydney almost daily.
“What I knew of her was more admiring [Sydney]. Maybe even infatuation. That’s specifically who she really, really looked up to.”
Hale, who police said was transgender and had started to identify using he/him pronouns, posted a TikTok in February on a since-deleted account, “iam_aiden10,” dedicated to “Syd.”
The clip showed a shadow of a person bouncing a basketball and the words: “For Syd. I look up the sky is bright. It’s a beautiful day. I wish you were here…”
Hardcastle said she had last seen Audrey — who shot her way into her former elementary school on Monday and killed three 9-year-olds and three staff members — a month ago when they had both attended a taping of their friend Avieranna Patton’s radio show.
“I don’t think she was with anyone. She was just kind of by herself,” Hardcastle said, adding, “I don’t think that they were very close but I think Audrey looked up to [her] like she looked up to Sydney. But I don’t know that it was ever, like, a two-way thing.”
Patton was the last person Hale contacted in the minutes before her shooting spree, sending her a message saying: “This is my last goodbye. I love you … See you again in another life.”
She also described Patton as “the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen and known all my life,” adding, “My family doesn’t know what I’m about to do. One day this will make more sense. I’ve left more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.”
Follow The Post’s coverage of the school shooting in Nashville
- Photos reveal inside of Nashville shooter Audrey Hale’s house where she hid guns
- Police ‘strongly believe’ Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale had other targets
- Nashville school shooting victims remembered by loved ones, friends at vigils
- Fundraiser for slain Nashville school custodian raises more than $350K in a day
- School shooter’s parents ‘couldn’t accept’ their daughter’s trans identity: report
Hardcastle said Hale was a “tomboy” back in school but did not appear to transition until adulthood.
She also said she didn’t know of Hale having had any romantic relationship with Sims.
Maria Colomy, a former instructor at the Nossi College of Art & Design in Nashville, who taught Hale as an adult, said her transition began around the same time as she was grieving the loss of a romantic partner, the New York Times reported.
Hale had written about how she missed the person and frequently posted pictures of the pair playing basketball, according to the teacher.
“The only thing I would see [Hale] post would be about this girl,” she told CNN.
“She had been openly grieving about that on social media, and during the grieving is when she announced that she wanted to be addressed as a male,” Colomy added to the New York Times.
Nashville Metro police say they are still searching for a motive for why Hale chose to shoot up the private Christian elementary Covenant School, which she had at one time attended, but recovered a manifesto she had written before she embarked on the spree.
Nashville Police Chief John Drake said they are looking into whether Hale’s identity played a role in the slaughter.
