The Shooter (Audrey Elizabeth Hale) was a 28-year-old former student at Covenant School, a small Presbyterian elementary school in Nashville. Hale had been planning the attack for years, conducting research on past shootings, and studying the methods used by other killers. Her emotional and psychological state, along with a belief that she was a “victim” who needed to “get justice” are the reasons she killed innocents and defenseless people. One thing that I’ve always wondered about this case is why she chose only innocent people and kids. She could have let out her frustration and pain on evil people, but she chose innocents.
Police identified Hale as the person who shot through a locked door to enter the school around 10:30 in the morning on March 27, 2023.
Once inside, Hale went straight to the second floor and began shooting and fired 152 rounds. Officers arrived quickly and killed the shooter, who was armed with an AR-style rifle, an assault-style pistol, and a handgun. Authorities confirmed that at least two of the guns were obtained legally.
Despite the fast police response, six people were killed—three children and three adults. The children were two nine-year-olds and one child about to turn nine. The adults killed included the school’s head (60-year-old Catherine Coons), a substitute teacher, and a janitor. Police described the crime scene as horrific.
The Nashville School Shooting: What Happened?
Covenant School Shooting – Nashville Gov Covenant Final Summary
Date: March 27, 2023
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Shooter: Audrey Hale
Victims: 6 people killed (3 children, 3 adults), others injured
Timeline of Events
8:00 a.m.
Hale left home at 3005 Brightwood Dr. with a duffle bag and a backpack.
The bag had guns, ammunition, tactical gear, and stuffed animals.
She drove away in a 2014 Honda Fit.
8:16 a.m.
She arrived at Royal Range USA, a gun range in Nashville.
She parked far from the building.
She wore tactical gear, loaded her guns, and waited in her car for over an hour.
9:33 a.m.
Hale left Royal Range and drove to The Covenant School.
9:53 a.m.
She arrived at the school, parked, and waited in her car.
She messaged a friend goodbye on Instagram.
10:09 a.m.
She got out of the car with three firearms:
- LeadStar AR pistol
- KelTec Sub2000 carbine
- Smith & Wesson M&P Shield pistol
10:10 a.m.
She shot through the glass doors and entered the school.
Custodian Michael Hill saw her and tried to run.
She shot him multiple times. He died.
The gun smoke set off the school’s fire alarm.
Moments After Entry
- The fire alarm unlocked doors per safety code.
- Staff and students began to evacuate as per fire drill protocol.
- Children formed lines to leave. Teachers guided them.
Victims in Hallway:
- Children William Kinney, Hallie Scruggs, and Evelyn Dieckhaus were walking in line on the second floor.
- Substitute teacher Cynthia Peak was helping with evacuation.
- Hale appeared in front of them at the stairwell and shot all four. They died instantly.
Further Attack
- Teachers quickly secured classrooms and locked doors.
- Hale fired through two classroom doors with her AR pistol.
- She reloaded and fired more shots through another classroom door.
- One student was injured by flying debris.
- She did not enter any classroom.
Victim near Church Office:
- Dr. Katherine Koonce, the school’s executive principal, was checking the fire alarm.
- She confronted Hale in a hallway.
- Hale shot and killed her with multiple shots from her AR pistol and handgun.
Final Movements
- Hale continued walking through the second floor, looking for more victims.
- Everyone else was locked inside rooms or hiding.
- Staff in the church office called 911.
- Hale did not breach any more rooms.
Summarizing Audrey Hale’s Crime
Investigators say Hale shot through a door to break into the school.
It was around 9:53 a.m. on Monday, March 27, 2023, and 28-year-old Audrey Hale was captured on CCTV entering the Covenant School, a private Christian school that ranges from preschool to the sixth grade in Nashville, Tennessee.
Over the next few moments, Audrey was spotted acting calmly, searching for a parking spot. Nothing suggests she was acting out of the ordinary. However, what happened afterwards sent shockwaves across not only the local community but rather the whole of the United States and beyond.
It is believed that Audrey had entered via the church located within the school. She was armed with three guns, all legally owned, and was looking to kill. It isn’t clear if the church itself was the target, but it wouldn’t be too hard to suggest that’s the case because, as you might have seen in CCTV clips, Audrey decided to look around before she had noticed that no one was present within the church grounds. So she moved on to the school itself. Again, that isn’t to say that moving on to the school wasn’t a part of her plan though.
At 10:21 a.m., the first set of responding officers arrived at the scene. The hunt for Audrey was on.
Within 14 minutes of the first 911 call being placed, police had successfully neutralized the threat, meaning teachers and students were safe.
This shooting in Nashville, Tennessee, shows that more must be done to stop gun violence, especially since such tragedies happen daily in America.
The shooting news reached the U.S. Senate, where Illinois Senator Dick Durbin commented, “We need to pass more reforms to keep guns out of dangerous hands and protect our children.”
Who Was Audrey Hale?
Audrey Hale was a self-employed freelance graphic designer. She was active on her social media and used to post gaming posts. Her neighbors remember her as a creative, talented, and well-rounded person. She attended the Covenant School, a private Christian Elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee. She also studied in the Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School of the Arts which is also located in Nashville’s 3500 John Mallette Dr. In her adulthood, she worked as a freelance graphic designer. She never made friends in life because of her depression and other psychological issues which we will discuss later in the article.
The Shooter’s Background:
Investigators searched Hale’s home (where the graphic artist lived) and found evidence that the attack was planned. Hale had studied the school’s layout and had maps. A neighbor told ABC News that Hale lived with family and was “very religious.”
Police reviewed Hale’s online activity, including a now-deleted Facebook post where Hale wrote about “binging on video games.”
Hale’s mother told ABC that she “lost her daughter today” and said, “It’s very, very difficult right now,” before asking for privacy and hanging up.
Full Name and Background
- Audrey Elizabeth Hale (also known as Aiden Hale)
- Age at the time of the shooting: 28 years old
- Lived in Nashville, Tennessee
Gender Identity and Personal Struggles
- Identified as transgender, Hale was a biological female at the time of her death
- Mental health concerns and possible motives
Professional Life
- Former student of The Covenant School
- Studied at Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School of the Arts
- Attended the Nashville School of the Arts (NSA), graduating in 2014.
- Obtained a bachelor’s degree in graphic design from Nossi College of Art (“Nossi”) in Nashville, TN in 2022.
- Worked as a freelance graphic designer.
Nashville Massacre Victims and Casualties
Total number of victims: 6 (3 children, 3 adults)
3 Children Killed (All 9 years old)
- Evelyn Dieckhaus
- Hallie Scruggs
- William Kinney
3 Adult Staff Killed
- Katherine Koonce, 60 – Head of the Covenant School
- Mike Hill, 61 – Custodian
- Cynthia Peak, 61 – Substitute teacher
Total six people fell victim due to Audrey’s horrific actions—three of those children.
According to police, they’ve stated that all victims were scattered around various locations within the school, dismissing the theory that specific people were the targets. Rather, anyone who crossed paths with Audrey was shot dead.
School head 60-year-old Katherine Coons, described as a saint, was said to have confronted Audrey, but to what extent is unknown. All police have said is that the way her body was found indicated that she must have attempted to stop the shooting, potentially saving multiple lives.
61-year-old Mike Hall, a 14-year veteran at the school who loved his job as a janitor, was shot through the door and was sadly killed.
A substitute teacher 61-year-old Cynthia Peak also crossed paths with the psychopath cold-blooded murderer and sadly got hit by one of the bullets and instantly died on spot. We don’t know specifics on how or where in the school she was killed, but she’s being remembered as a strong believer in the Lord. She was there on that fateful day to help guide the young Christians on their everlasting journey with God.
As painful as it is to lose people to mass shooting events, I don’t think anything is worse than when small children fall victim in these horrific instances.
Three nine-year-olds—William Kinney, Evelyn Dieckhaus, and Haley Scruggs—were all victims Audrey shot dead while going on her rampage.
Haley Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, a senior pastor at a local church. He described his daughter as a gift in a statement to ABC News. He also spoke of his faith with them, saying that one day they would be reunited: “We’re heartbroken. Through tears, we trust that she’s in the arms of Jesus, who will raise her to life once again.”
Evelyn Dieckhaus’s family is said to be completely broken by the incident. They described the young girl as “the shining light of the world.” At the church service held hours after the shooting, Evelyn’s sister, just 11 years old herself, cried during the service, saying, “I don’t want to be an only child.”
William Kinney’s family friend would describe him as having “an unflappable spirit.
Audrey Hale’s Motive: What Was Behind the Attack?
The Manifesto and Writings
She did not left a manifesto and it didn’t exist. The cold-blooded shooter did not kept a single document which tells why she attacked the innocents at her childhood’s school. No strong or one line answer why specifically killed people at The Covenant school, and what she wanted from there. All investigations found several notebooks, art drawing books, and some media files, at in her house and vehicle. These boos and files contained her planning and strategy for the attack and it also had some events in her life that made her execute the massacre.
The final police report on the Covenant School shooting concludes that Audrey Hale (the shooter) did not leave behind a single, cohesive “manifesto” but instead scattered writings across notebooks, art compositions, and digital files.
The final reports say that Hale wanted to be remembered and feared being “forgotten” if she died by suicide alone. She idolized other mass shooters, seeking the same infamy and “god-like” status. She also wrote in one of her books, “If I just kill myself, I’ll be a footnote. This way, I’ll matter.”
Also, Contrary to early speculation, Hale had positive memories of Covenant School (attended K–4th grade) and she did not have any grudge against teachers or students of the school and she was just anyone who came in her way to become famous as an evil person.
The Police have concluded that she felt a “personal connection” and believed her childhood school was a “perfect setting for her death.”
The shooter considered attacking malls or other schools too but finalized her childhood school Covenant due to its emotional setting.
Hale saw herself as “the true victim” of the attack, blaming lifelong loneliness and rejection. So according to her, she had to do this because she was not fairly treated by anyone in her life and found herself a true victim and needed justice. She showed anger over failed relationships and career disappointments but no personal grievances against victims.
She also Believed Christians would be “meek and afraid,” and the perfect place she could think of it was her childhood Christian school where she studied as a child. The reports show no point that she targeted the school for religious reasons.
Audrey Hale’s Psychological Condition
As per reports released by police and investigation departments, she was getting diagnosed with depression, anxiety, OCD, and social phobias in her childhood when she was 6 years old in 2001.
Here’s a clear breakdown of the mental health issues of Hale as confirmed by several sources on the web:
- Major depressive disorder – Severe, persistent depression
- Dysthymic disorder – Chronic low mood (long-term but less intense than major depression)
- Generalized anxiety disorder – Excessive, uncontrollable worry
- Social phobias – Intense fear of social situations
- Anger-management issues – Difficulty controlling anger
- Emotional and social underdevelopment – Struggles with maturity in emotions and social skills
- Eating disorder – Unhealthy eating behaviors (not specified which type)
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder– Consistent obsessive thoughts of doing weird things like harming others and self
Later developments (college and beyond):
- Self-harm – Deliberately hurting oneself
- Suicide attempts – Trying to take one’s own life
- “Rage storms” – Extreme, explosive outbursts of anger (often with swearing)
Her motives of attacking innocents were collected from several notes and her personal documents where she hid her manifestos in little parts and it tells us that she was clever in hiding her motives from her therapists and guardians.
Around age six, Hale’s mom saw she wasn’t growing like other kids. So, her mom took her to a doctor for her mind. The doctor checked Hale and saw some things were slow in her growth. It was hard for Hale to say what she wanted with others and to understand her feelings. The doctor also saw that Hale worried a lot. But the doctor did not think Hale had autism.
Later, when Hale was grown up, she wrote that her mind had always felt bad, even when she was little. She said loud sounds bothered her a lot. Big groups of kids, big animals, and grown-ups scared her easily. Since Hale wrote this much later, it might not be exactly how it was then. But we know for sure that doctors started writing down her mind health in 2001, when she was six years old.
Her mental condition was very severe as she was having a massacre plan in her brain for years. Years before she committed the crime, she was having recurring thoughts of killing people in public. In 2017, she wrote about her mental condition saying she just watched a video on school massacre. This was her beginning of meditating on such violent thoughts and then she started searching and studying past massacre incidences and how the shooter actually executed such crimes. Reports say that she read hundreds of articles, movies, documentaries, and stories of mass shootings on the internet.
She extended her research on the massacre topic and started imagining herself in the role of killer. Hale downloaded pictures of the criminals who were recognized for mass shooting incidents and researched about the guns they used. The research also included little details like the manifesto of such killers and the way or the number of victims they killed. Reports say it could be possible she started building a solid strategy for herself since then from making plans, to buying weapons, collecting the right ammo, learning to aim and shoot, etc.
By birth, she was a female, but never happy with it as she wanted to be a man. She believed that society sees women or females as weak or inferior to some extent or women are often harassed sexually and mentally. She adopted the mentality of a man and a male and also started fantasizing about girls and cultivated a passion for women. Reports suggest she often fantasizes having sensual relationships with females and planned to get surgery to become a male.
The Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital Knew About Audrey’s Massacre Thoughts
Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital was treating her for OCD, anxiety, and anger-related issues. The investigation in that hospital for Audrey Hale Manifesto uncovered a dark truth about the case. The hospital staff already had an idea of her thoughts of massacring. They have documented several times in her medical files that she was having violent thoughts of killing people for no reason.
She described her kindergarten days as the happiest time of her life
She admitted in one of her journals that the life in her childhood Christian school Covenant was the most satisfying time. The environment of the school according to her was very peaceful, safe, kind and friendly. Her relationship with her family was also on point at this time.
Conclusion
This is our attempt to deliver the only article you need to learn everything about Audrey Hale. We have studied all aspects of this case from legal and social prospective. We hope our efforts of putting this case together in this post were helpful. If you found it helpful, we urge you to share your thoughts on this matter in comments.
Frequently Asked Questions (Q&A)
– Did Audrey Hale Die?
- Yes, Hale was killed by police during the incident.
– How Many People Did Audrey Hale Kill?
- Six victims (three children and three adults).
– Was Audrey Hale a Biological Male?
- Reports indicate Hale was assigned female at birth but identified as male.
– Where Did Audrey Hale Live and Work?
- Lived in Nashville, worked as a freelance graphic designer.
– Was Audrey Hale in Custody?
- No, Hale was fatally shot by police.