On March 27, a shooting occurred at a private Christian elementary school in Tennessee, which claimed six lives.
The shooter, officially identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale and also known as Aiden, was a former student at Covenant School. Hale entered the school with an assault rifle and opened fire, killing three children and three adults.
The victims were: Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney, and Hallie Scruggs, all 9-year-old students at Covenant School; and Mike Hill, 61, custodian; Katherine Koonce, 60, head of the school; and Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher.
Authorities believe the victims were targeted randomly, according to CNN.
On the day of the shooting, at 9:57 am local time, Hale sent a message to Averianna Patton, a childhood friend, on Instagram.
“I’m planning on dying today,” Hale told Patton. “One day this will make more sense. I’ve left more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.”
Patton had not spoken to Hale since childhood, and did not know why she received the message. “I knew her well when we were kids, when we were younger,” Patton told CNN. “I didn’t know the adult Audrey.”
Patton called a suicide hotline, who advised her to call local authorities instead.
At 10:13 am, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department received a call about an active shooter at Covenant School. Surveillance video from that time shows Hale firing through the glass doors entering.
The police arrived at 10:24 am, Police Chief John Drake told CNN. Officers heard gunfire from the second floor and rushed up the stairs as the shots continued.
Bodycam footage shows Officer Rex Engelbert fire four rounds on the attacker, who collapsed. Officer Michael Collazo appears to shoot the downed attacker four more times, yelling “stop moving!” They then radioed that the suspect had been downed.
After the shooting, two semi-automatic rifles and a handgun were recovered from Hale’s body. Authorities search Hale’s home, where they found two shotguns. According to evidence gathered from the home, Hale had legally purchased seven firearms since October 2020.
Hale wrote extensively about the shooting beforehand, demonstrating that the attack was targeted and closely planned. According to Drake, these writings show that Hale had considered attacking a mall in Nashville, but chose Covenant because it had less security.
As of March 28, a motive for the shooting has not been determined. According to Drake, Hale was under care for an emotional disorder.
“We are grieving tremendous loss and are in shock coming out of the terror that shattered our school and church,” Covenant School said in a statement. “We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the process of healing.”
Covenant School’s statement also thanked law enforcement for their response.
“From what I’ve seen, I don’t have a particular problem with it,” Drake told reporters Tuesday regarding the officers’ response time. “But we always want to get better. We always want to get there in two or three minutes.”
“I have watched school shootings happen over the years and never thought I would lose a loved one over a person trying to solve a temporary problem with a permanent solution,” Brittany Hill, daughter of Mike Hill, said on Facebook. “I am so sorry for the loss of those children. Please keep my family in your prayers tonight. Hug your parents and children a little tighter.”
The Covenant School shooting is the deadliest U.S. school shooting since the May 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which claimed 22 lives. It is the 19th school shooting in 2023 to leave at least one person injured, according to CNN.
