Audrey Hale, 28, was biologically a woman, but referred to herself with masculine pronouns.
On Monday morning she walked into her former
elementary school in Nashville
and killed three 9-year-old boys and three adults, including the principal.
This Tuesday, in a search of her house, the police found several weapons.
The day before she had used at least three, in a planned attack in detail and
captured by security cameras.
According to the authorities, Hale
had drawn a detailed map of the school,
including possible points of entry.
He too had guarded the building before carrying out the massacre.
No word yet on what prompted the woman to open fire at The
Covenant School
.
But she left behind a manifesto that the police are now examining.
“We have a manifesto, we have some writing that we are reviewing that pertains to this date, the actual incident,” he told reporters.
“We have a drawn map of how all this was going to happen.
Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28. Photo: Reuters
He said in an interview with NBC News that investigators believe the shooter had "some resentment about having to go to that school."
The victims included three 9-year-old boys, the school principal, a substitute teacher, and a janitor.
Amid the chaos, a family ritual unfolded: panicked parents rushed to the school to see if their children were safe and tearfully hugged them, and a stunned community held vigils for the victims.
Rachel Dibble, who was at a nearby church where the children were being taken to meet their parents, described the scene as everyone being "completely shocked".
The school's security cameras caught Hale in full action.
He knew the school.
She was a former student.
The school's security cameras caught Hale in full action.
Photo: Metropolitan Nashville Police Department / AFP
On Monday night, police released approximately two minutes of edited video caught on camera showing the young woman driving the car to school from multiple angles, including one showing children playing on the swings in the bottom.
The young woman drives the car towards the school.
Photo: Reuters
Next, an interior view shows the glass doors of the school being blown out by the woman's shots as she ducks and walks through them.
the glass doors of the school being shot at.
Photo: EFE
More footage from inside shows the young woman walking down a school hallway holding a long-barreled gun and entering a room labeled "church office," then returning.
In the final part of the footage, the shooter can be seen walking down another long hallway with his gun drawn.
The shooter is not seen interacting with anyone else in the video, which has no sound.
More footage from inside shows the young woman walking down a school hallway holding a long-barreled gun.
Photo: EFE
“People were shaking involuntarily,” Rachel Dibble said.
"The boys...started the morning in their cute uniforms, they probably had some Froot Loops (cereal) and now their lives have completely changed."
Police gave unclear information about the woman's gender.
For hours, police identified the shooter as a 28-year-old woman, eventually identifying the person as
Audrey Elizabeth Hale
.
Then, at a late afternoon press conference, the police chief said that
Hale was transgender
.
After the news conference, police spokesman Don Aaron declined to elaborate on how Hale was currently identified.
Authorities said Hale was armed with
two "assault-style" weapons and a
.
At least two of them are believed
to have been obtained legally
in the Nashville area, according to the chief.
Police said a search of Hale's home turned up
a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other unspecified evidence.
The victims
The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9 years old, and the adults Cynthia Peak, 61;
Katherine Konce, 60;
and Mike Hill, 61.
People gather at the Belmont United Methodist Church during a vigil for the victims killed at the Covenant School.
Photo: EFE
The website for The Covenant School,
a Presbyterian school founded in 2001,
lists Katherine Koonce as the school's principal.
Her LinkedIn profile says she has run the school since July 2016. Peak was a substitute teacher and Hill was a janitor, according to investigators.
Founded as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, The Covenant School is located in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood just south of downtown Nashville, home to the famed Bluebird Café, a typically beloved spot for musicians and songwriters.
The school has around
200 students from kindergarten through sixth grade
, as well as approximately 50 staff members.
v1.5
Nashville, Tennessee
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Source:
Johns Hopkins University
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“Our community is heartbroken,” a statement from the school said.
“We are grieving a tremendous loss and we are in shock at the terror that destroyed our school and church.
We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the healing process."
Before Monday's violence in Nashville, there had been seven mass murders
at K-12 (elementary) schools
since 2006 in which four or more people were killed in a 24-hour period, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in association with Northeastern.
University.
In all of them,
the shooters were male.
The database does not include school shootings in which fewer than four people were killed, which have
become much more common in recent years
.
Just last week, for example, school shootings occurred in Denver and the Dallas area within two days of each other.
Monday's tragedy unfolded
for approximately 14 minutes
.
Police received the initial call about an active shooter at 10:13 a.m.
Officers began clearing the first floor of the school when they heard gunshots coming from the second level, Aaron said.
Police later said the shooter fired at arriving officers from a second-story window and that she had come armed with significant ammunition.
In response, two officers from a five-member team opened fire, killing the suspect at 10:27 a.m., Aaron said.
Aaron said
there were no police officers present or assigned to the school
at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.
President Joe Biden, speaking at the White House on Monday, called the shooting
"the family's worst nightmare"
and again implored Congress to pass a ban on certain semi-automatic weapons.
A reeling city mourned during multiple vigils Monday night.
At Belmont United Methodist Church, sobs of tears filled the background as vigil attendees sang, knelt in prayer and lit candles.
They lamented the national cycle of violent and deadly shootings.
“We need to take a step back.
We need to breathe.
We need to grieve," said Paul Purdue, the church's senior pastor.
“We have to remember.
We need to make room for others who are grieving.
We need to hear the cries of our neighbors."
Associated Press
ap
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