The Nashville elementary school shooter has been identified after killing three young children and three adults.
At around 10.13 am on Monday, a gunman stormed The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, and opened fire at the private Christian institution.
In the gunfire, three nine-year-old students were shot dead. Succumbing to their injuries were also three members of the staff.
The victims include 9-year-old student William Kinney, 9-year-old student Hallie Scruggs, 9-year-old student Evelyn Dieckhaus, 60-year-old head of school Katherine Koonce, 61-year-old custodian Mike Hill, and 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.
The shooter, who was killed in the confrontation with the police, has since been identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, a transgender woman who was one of the school’s alumni.
While the motive for the attack wasn’t immediately revealed, the police confirmed that the shooter had initially planned to attack another school before choosing another location because they had too much security.
The police also revealed that the murderer left behind a comprehensive manifesto that might help the authorities establish more information about the tragedy.
“We have a manifesto, we have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this day. We have a map drawn out of how this was all gonna to take place. There’s right now a theory that we may put out later but it’s not confirmed. We’ll put that out as soon as we can,” Nashville Police Chief John Drake said.
“We can give you that at a later time. There is some theory to that, we’re investigating all the leads.”
It currently appears that Hale didn’t have a criminal record or any known history of mental health issues. The latter, however, is still being looked into by the investigators.
“There was another location that was mentioned but because of a threat assessment by the suspect, too much security, they decided not to,” Drake said of Hale’s plans.
Meanwhile, a neighbor of the 28-year-old spoke out and shared her shock saying Hale always appeared sweet and kind.
“Never. She was very sweet. I don’t know what happened. It’s very scary,” Sandy Durham told The Daily Beast as she admitted she “never” spotted any warning signs on Hale’s side.
Our thoughts remain with the victims of the school shooting during this challenging time.
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