Matt Bush, FISM News
Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale planned her attack for months before she fired 152 rounds of ammunition during her 14-minute attack on The Covenant School that left three children and three adults dead.
Nashville police revealed that the transgender artist-turned-shooter “considered the actions of other mass murderers” during the months-long planning process and considered at least two other public school targets prior to choosing The Covenant School.
“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,” Nashville police said in a statement.
Police have confirmed the existence of a manifesto written by Hale that has since been turned over to the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, but have yet to pinpoint a true motive for the attack. The manifesto has not yet been released to the public though there are rumors about what may or may not be included.
In addition to the manifesto, police have recovered artwork related to the attack, detailed drawings and diagrams of the school, several pieces of writing about the attack, and maps showing where entry to the school could be gained. Hale used those drawings and her knowledge of the school to shoot the glass out of a side door and crawl through.
While Hale was firing shots inside the school and out the window at police, calls were coming into 911 from the school to report the shooting. Three of those calls were released to a local Nashville news station that reported that“they paint a chilling picture of the fear felt among students and staff as they hid from the heavily armed attacker.”
SWIFT POLICE RESPONSE
Unlike the shooting in Uvalde that left 19 children and two adults dead and lasted more than 70 minutes before children were rescued, the Nashville police responded quickly and decisively.
While Hale was firing dozens of shots out the window in the direction of police and hundreds more inside the school, Officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo fired four rounds each just 14 minutes after the attack began, killing Hale and putting an end to the terror.
All of the information to date shows that Hale acted alone and planned for months, but her motive is either not yet known or possibly contained within the manifesto she wrote.
GOVERNOR’S SCHOOL SAFETY PROPOSAL
In response, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) proposed a $205 million school safety program yesterday stating, “These are practical, thoughtful solutions we can all agree upon.”
The cornerstone of the proposal is a $140 million grant fund that would put trained, armed security guards in every public and private school in the state. The remaining money would have $30 million going toward expanding a statewide homeland security network, $27 million for school security upgrades, and $8 million for school-based behavioral health liaisons.
“There is nothing more important than our students safely returning home each day,” Lee said during a press conference on Monday.