The suspect in the shooting deaths of six people, three of whom were children, at a Tennessee elementary school on Monday has been identified.
Audrey Hale, 28, was identified as the Covenant School mass shooter by the Metro Nashville Police Department.
Authorities said Hale, a former student at the small private Christian academy, gained access to the elementary school at around 10.13 a.m. on Monday after shooting through one of the academy doors.
The alleged 28-year-old suspect entered the school’s second floor armed with two assault-type rifles and a handgun and opened fire.
Metro Nashville officers arrived quickly and immediately heard gunshots on the second floor.
“Officers went to the gunfire. When they got to the second floor and saw the shooter, a female,” Metro Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron said at a press conference.
A five-member unit “engaged” Hale in a second-floor lobby area and apprehended the suspect by 10.27 a.m.
MNPD Chief John Drake stated that Hale had targeted the school, had multiple rounds of ammunition, and was “prepared to engage with law enforcement.”
Video released of shooter at a Nashville Christian School. Shooter was 28 year old Audrey E. Hale who identified as a male. A manifesto was left behind but no comment on the content has been released by Nashville Police. Six lost their lives in this shooting
Video released of shooter at a Nashville Christian School. Shooter was 28 year old Audrey E. Hale who identified as a male. A manifesto was left behind but no comment on the content has been released by Nashville Police. Six lost their lives in this shooting. pic.twitter.com/4D1Fzr9bFH
— Isaak T. Ruiz (@IsaakRuizBeast) March 28, 2023
Nashville Police release bodycam footage showing officers neutralizing trans shooter of Christian school
????BREAKING: Nashville Police release bodycam footage showing officers neutralizing trans shooter of Christian school pic.twitter.com/XUIhSceGiq
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 28, 2023
As shots rang out, students were quickly evacuated into a wooded area and a fire hall. Drake stated.
Three children and three adults were killed by gunshot wounds in the shooting, according to a spokesperson for Vanderbilt University Medical Center Hospital.
Students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9, were among those killed, as were staff members Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
According to her profile, Dr. Koonce was the Head of School for nearly seven years.
“I was literally moved to tears to see this as the kids were being ushered out of the building,” Drake said.
In the incident, a Metro Nashville police officer suffered a non-life threatening hand injury.
Police were seen carrying out a search warrant at Hale’s home in the Belmont neighbourhood.
Investigators recovered maps, drawings of the school, surveillance footage, and points of entry at Hale’s home, according to Chief Drake.
“It could have been far worse,” he continued.
“My heart and prayers go out to the families of the six people who were tragically injured.”
“It’s sick, you know, we’re still gathering the fact of what happened and why. And we do know that as of now, there were a number of people that did not make it, including children,” Biden said while speaking at Small Business Administration’s Women’s Business Summit.
“It’s ripping our communities apart, ripping the soul of this nation.”
Biden called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, saying we “need to do more to protect our schools.
After the shooter, a 28-year-old White woman, entered the building through a side entry, there was fighting at The Covenant School.According to the Metropolitan Nashville Police, the police dispatched to the scene entered the school and headed in the direction of the gunfire, when they came across “a female who was firing” on the second level. She was shot by two policemen, who then killed her.
Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old, as well as teachers Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61, were named as the victims by the police.
Police were attempting to track down the shooter and determine whether she was related to the school. Audrey Hale is a resident of Nashville, according to three law enforcement sources that were informed on the incident and quoted by NBC News.
According to Police Chief John Drake, the shooter may have previously attended the school as a student. He said that every entrance to the campus-based pre-K through sixth-grade school had been secured.
Chief Drake told reporters that what he seen in the aftermath at the school “brought me to tears.”
President Biden again asked Congress to support a ban on Monday.
“It’s heartbreaking, a family’s worst nightmare,” Mr. Biden said. “We have to do more to stop gun violence. It’s ripping our communities apart, ripping at the very soul of this nation. We have to do more to protect our schools. I call on Congress again to pass my assault weapons ban.”
