Nashville police are still investigating the background and motives of a former student who entered a Christian elementary school armed with an AR-style weapon and detailed maps and opened fire, killing three children and three adults.
If you’re just reading, here’s the latest on the shooting and the investigation:
shooter: The person has been identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale. Hale, who was shot and killed by police in Monday’s attack, left Covenant School with a “drawn” map detailing “how this is all going to happen,” said Nashville Metro Police Chief John Drake. As police struggled to piece together what led to the violence, officials said they had identified the shooter’s residence in the Nashville area and had interviewed Hale’s father.
Hale, who attended a Christian school years ago, left writings related to the shooting and scoured Nashville for a second possible attack location, “but because of the suspect’s threat assessment — too many security measures — They decided not to,” the police chief said. The Nashville Metro said the texts showed the Covenant School attack was “planned and planned.”
So far, little is known about the gunman. The school’s president confirmed to CNN that Hale, who graduated from Nashville’s Northey College of Art and Design last year and whose LinkedIn profile shows Hale worked as a freelance graphic designer and part-time grocery store buyer, confirmed to CNN.
Police called Hale the “female shooter,” adding at an evening news conference that Hale was transgender. When asked for clarification, a spokesperson told CNN that Hale used “masculine pronouns” in his social media profiles.
arms: The police chief said at a news conference that the gunman “had multiple rounds and was prepared to engage law enforcement and prepare to do more damage than he actually did.”
Police found three weapons — an AR-style rifle, an AR-style pistol and a pistol, Drake said, and police believe Hale obtained at least two of them legally. A search warrant executed at Hale’s home also seized a short shotgun, a second shotgun and other evidence, according to police.
victim: The three students shot dead were all 9 years old. They were identified as Evelyn Dickhouse, Harley Scruggs and William Kinney. The three adults killed in the shooting were identified as Cynthia Peake, 61, Katherine Koons, 60, and Mike Hill, 61, police said. Two Covenant School employees were victims of Monday’s mass shooting, according to the school.
What to expect today: Investigators are expected to tackle the scene on Tuesday and gather more details about what happened about 14 minutes into the horror at the elementary school.
US mass shootings: The attack is the 19th shooting at a school or university so far in 2023 in which at least one person was injured, according to CNN. The Covenant shooting, which left six victims, is the deadliest school shooting since the Uvalde, Texas, attack last May that killed 21 people.
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