Audrey Hale, the shooter who killed six people at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, targeted multiple locations in a written manifesto examined by police.
Hale, a 28-year-old Nashville resident, killed three children and three adults at Covenant School Monday morning. The victims were identified as 9-year-old students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, as well as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
The Nashville Police Department later confirmed during a press briefing that Hale was a former student at the school, although Police Chief John Drake could not confirm when Hale attended. Police have also reported that Hale identified as transgender.
Police also uncovered a manifesto while searching Hale’s home after the shooting, Drake told reporters, which included a map of Covenant School “drawn in detail” that included “surveillance, entry points, etc.,” regarding the building.
Nashville police later posted a photo on Twitter of what officers determined to be Hale’s car parked on the school’s campus, where officers “found additional material written by Hale.”
Drake told reporters that “there was another location that was mentioned, but because of threat assessment by the suspect, too much security, they decided not to.”
“That area was here in Nashville, so we’re continuing with that investigation,” Drake said.
Active shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, drove this Honda Fit to the Covenant Church/school campus this morning and parked. MNPD detectives searched it and found additional material written by Hale. pic.twitter.com/ftGX74ecKr
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 28, 2023
Monday’s shooting, which is the 129th mass shooting this year, has reignited calls from some Democrats to enact stricter gun control. President Joe Biden again pleaded to Congress while hosting the Women’s Business Summit at the White House to pass his assault-weapons ban, adding, “It’s about time that we begin to make some more progress.”
Police have confirmed that Hale was armed with two assault-style weapons and a handgun. Drake also told reporters that the shooter had “multiple rounds of ammunition” and “prepared to do more damage than was actually done.”
But some gun-rights advocates have argued that the mass school shooting punctuates the need for increased security in schools. The National Rifle Association (NRA) posted a clip of Drake’s press conference on Twitter when he talked about Hale assessing that one of their targets had “too much security.”
“School security is a deterrent,” the NRA wrote. “It’s time to prioritize school security and safeguard our children.”
Newsweek has reached out to the NRA through its website portal for additional comment.
Alabama Representative Barry Moore, a staunch gun-rights supporter and Republican, also advocated for increased school security on Twitter Monday afternoon.
“We have a mental health crisis in this country that cannot be denied,” Moore wrote. “We must take a look at school security and consider more funding. If we can secure airports, we can secure schools. If we can send $100 billion to Ukraine, we can spend it here to keep our children safe.”
Fellow Republican, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, also tweeted that the Covenant School shooting was “horrific,” adding, “For everyone who says ‘thoughts & prayers aren’t enough,’ I AGREE.”
“Ask why EVERY SINGLE SENATE DEM voted against my bill doubling police officers in school,” Cruz wrote. “One armed officer could have stopped this lunatic, BEFORE a child was killed.”
Cruz’s bill, the Securing Our Schools Act, was introduced in the Senate in September. The bill sought to use unspent COVID-19 relief for schools on increased resource officers and mental health professionals in middle and high schools, as well as physical security improvements to buildings.
In June, Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed an executive order to enhance school safety in his state, including the establishment of “additional resources to support parents, teachers and law enforcement in improving school security practices,” according to a release from the governor’s office.
Lee also proposed this month that all K-12 public schools should be required to keep their exterior doors locked or risk losing state funding, reported Chalkbeat. Nashville police say that Hale shot through glass doors on the side of Covenant School to enter the building Monday.
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