Nashville shooter Audrey Hale fired 152 rounds, planned attack ‘over a period of months’: officials
Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale fired 152 rounds during her 14-minute assault on the Covenant School that left six dead, officials have announced.
The shooter, who police said was transgender, had planned the attack for months before blasting her way into the Nashville private elementary school on the morning of March 27.
“In the collective writings by Hale found in her vehicle in the school parking lot, and others later found in the bedroom of her home, she documented, in journals, her planning over a period of months to commit mass murder at the Covenant School,” the Metro Nashville Police Department said.
Police also revealed Monday that Hale, 28, had “considered the actions of other mass murderers.”
They noted Hale fired 152 rounds from the two assault rifles and a pistol she carried for the attack.
Police previously said Hale had targeted the school though not the victims. Hale also “explored” other locations, including two public schools, before carrying out the Covenant killing spree, officials have previously said.
Surveillance footage from the exterior of the school showed Hale shooting into the school’s locked side doors and crawling in through the shattered glass.
Hale was then seen stalking through the empty halls of the school as 911 calls poured in.
The chilling calls, which police released to NewsChannel5 Nashville, paint a chilling picture of the fear felt among students and staff as they hid from the heavily armed attacker.
In the second of three 911 calls released, an adult woman’s voice can be heard amid the sound of an alarm blaring in the background.
“I think we hear gunshots,” she tells the dispatcher in the call, which was placed at 10:12 a.m. local time.
Someone who sounds like a child can be heard whimpering in the background.
Moments later, someone can be heard saying they “want to go home.”
Asked if the woman was in a safe spot, she responds: “I think so.”
“We’re in the art room closet. I hear another shot, I’m hearing more shots.”
Police body camera footage shows the team of MNPD officers rushing into the building and confronting the shooter within minutes.
Officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo each fired four rounds, ultimately killing Hale, police said.
Nine-year-olds Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney were killed in the
assault, as well as school janitor Mike Hill, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak and headmistress Katherine Koonce, who reportedly ran toward the shooter to try to protect the school.
A local official told The Post that the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit is reviewing Hale’s manifesto. Police are still investigating Hale’s possible motive.
