What We Know About The 28-Year-Old Suspect

Topline

Nashville Police are continuing their investigation into the shooting at Covenant School Monday that killed six people, and have identified the alleged shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale—here’s what we know about the suspect so far.

Nashville police block the entrance of the Covenant School following a mass shooting in Nashville, … [+] Tennessee, on March 27.

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Key Facts

Hale arrived at Covenant School, a private Christian school, Monday with three firearms, including two assault-style weapons, according to police, where the suspect allegedly killed three nine-year-olds and three adults before being killed by police.

Hale was a previous student at the school and had no criminal record, and Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told NBC News, “There’s some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school.”

Writings law enforcement obtained from the shooter showed the alleged attack was “calculated and planned,” but Hale did not have any specific targets of victims, and police found “detailed” maps planning the shooting as well as additional firearms when they searched Hale’s house.

Hale was a 2022 graduate of the Nossi College of Art & Design in Nashville, the school confirmed, describing the suspect as a “talented artist and good student,” and the suspect’s personal website said Hale was a freelance graphic designer and illustrator with two cats who “enjoy[s] binging on video games, watching movies, and playing sports,” according to ABC News.

Police say they “feel that she identifies as trans, but we’re still in the initial investigation into all of that and if it actually played a role into this incident,” and a LinkedIn page for Hale cited by NBC News, which appeared to no longer be public as of Tuesday morning, used “he/him” pronouns.

Former Covenant School headmaster Bill Campbell told NBC News he remembered Hale as a third and fourth grade student in 2005 and 2006, noting Hale didn’t appear in the yearbook after that and likely transferred, saying there was “nothing unusual” about the student and Hale was “just a typical co-ed. A typical student.”

Big Number

89. That’s the number of K-12 school shootings that have taken place so far in 2023, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database. There are 131 mass shootings in total that have taken place so far in the U.S. this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive as of Tuesday morning—meaning there have already been more mass shootings than days in the year so far.

Surprising Fact

Though police are still confirming Hale’s gender identity, the mass shooting initially appeared to be one of very few to have been carried out by a female shooter. According to the Violence Project, out of 172 mass shootings that had taken place prior to the Nashville attack that had killed more than four people, only four assailants had been female.

Key Background

The Covenant School shooting took place Monday morning, with law enforcement reporting they were first alerted to the shooter at 10:13 a.m. and “by 10:27 the suspect was deceased.” In addition to three nine-year-old students, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, school head Katherine Koonce and custodian Mike Hill were also killed in the shooting. Covenant School is a private Christian school that describes itself as “helping children become who God intends them to be,” and the school was founded in 2001 as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church. Approximately 209 students and 42 faculty members were on campus on a typical day, according to police spokesperson Don Aaron. President Joe Biden called the shooting “heartbreaking” on Monday and called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban—which Republicans are still resisting—saying gun violence was “ripping our communities apart” and the U.S. “need[s] to do more to protect our schools.” “It’s about time we began to make some more progress,” Biden said.

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Key Facts

Big Number

Surprising Fact

Key Background

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