The transgender shooter who attacked a Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, sent disturbing messages over Instagram to a friend moments before the shooting, during which she killed six people, including three children.
The friend, Averianna Patton, has been identified as Hall’s middle school basketball teammate. Patton received messages from the transgender shooter through Instagram just minutes before the attack, according to News Channel 5.
“I’m planning to die today,” the shooter wrote in one of the messages. “THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!!!”
“You’ll probably hear about me on the news after I die,” she added.
In the messages, Patton begged the transgender shooter not to take her own life and tried to remind her of all she had to live for.
“My family doesn’t know what I’m about to do,” Hall wrote. “One day this will make more sense. I’ve left more than enough evidence behind. … But something bad is about to happen.”
Patton told News Channel 5 that she contacted the police immediately after receiving the disturbing messages.
“After phone calls from friends and [the shooter’s] name was released as the shooter at Covenant Nashville school, I learned that [she] was the shooter and that she had reached out to me prior to the shooting,” Patton said. “My heart is with all of the families affected and I’m devastated by what has happened.”
Authorities have described the shooting as a “targeted attack.” A team of five Metro Nashville Police Department Officers immediately responded to the shooting and rapidly rushed into the building. Two of the officers encountered the transgender shooter inside the school and fatally shot her as she was firing on other officers from a second-story window.
