Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale identified as transgender and had detailed manifesto to attack Christian academy

Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale identified as transgender and had detailed manifesto to attack Christian academy

Officials said Audrey Hale, a former student, entered the school Monday morning by shooting through a door on the side of the building.

While inside, Hale killed Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9, as well as custodian Mike Hill and substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, both 61, and school head Katherine Koonce, 60.

Following the shootings, Hale was killed when they encountered officers on the second floor by 10:27 a.m., 14 minutes after the alarm was raised.

Audrey Hale
Police confirmed the shooter was 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who identified as transgender.
Nossi College of Art
A group prays with a child outside the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church after a school shooting, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.
The shooting occurred at Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville.
AP Photo/John Bazemore
Children led by law enforcement after shooting in Nashville, TN (SEE ARTICLE LINK TO WATCH SHORT VIDEO CLIPS THAT WON’T DISPLAY HERE WHEN COPIED TO TTQ- LM)

Police said Hale was equipped with at least two assault weapons and a handgun, and in searching her family home in Nashville, officers found detailed maps and a manifesto of the attack.

“We have a manifesto, we have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this day,” Nashville Metropolitan Police Chief John Drake said about the discovery.

He added that Hale was “prepared to do more harm than was actually done,” and that she had drawn up plans to attack another school in the area, but backed out of them because the school was too secure.

School staff wait near The Covenant School, following a school shooting Monday morning in Nashville , Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023.
The school is based in Nashville’s Green Hills neighborhood.
Nicole Hester / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
A man walks with children at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a school shooting at The Covenant School, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.
The shooter killed six people and reportedly was “prepared to do more harm.” Many students, including the ones in the photo, were evacuated.
AP Photo/John Bazemore

Asked whether Hale’s identity could be a factor in the motive, Drake said authorities “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.”

In online profiles, Hale had indicated they used he/him pronouns and also went by the name Aiden.

It is unclear whether Hale identified as a man or woman at the time of the slayings.


Follow The Post’s coverage of the school shooting in Nashville


Hale was notably an alumnus of the small, private Christian school, which teaches students in pre-K through 6th grade and only has about 200 students enrolled, according to its website.

The school focuses its curriculum on biblical theology, where students take classes about the Bible along with standard education courses.

“There’s some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school,” Drake told NBC News’ Lester Holt on Monday evening. “Don’t have all the details to that just yet and that’s why this incident occurred.”

Photo released by Metro Nashville PD Monday, March 27, 2023, showing the shooter's guns.
Hale was heavily armed with multiple weapons.
MNPDNashville/Twitter
Photo released by Metro Nashville PD Monday, March 27, 2023, showing the shooter's guns.
The transgender shooter carried two assault rifles and a handgun.
MNPDNashville/Twitter
Photo released by Metro Nashville PD Monday, March 27, 2023, showing the shooter's guns.
Hale shot through a door at the school to get in.
MNPDNashville/Twitter

Drake also said Hale had been indiscriminate with whom she targeted once she had entered the school, by shooting through a locked door.

“She targeted random students in the school. … Whoever she came in contact with, she fired rounds,” Drake said.

Former headmaster Bill Campbell said “I do remember her as a former student” and that he had records of Hale as a third-grader at the school in 2005 and a fourth-grader in 2006, but said after that, she does not appear in his yearbooks and he thought she must have transferred.

A child weeps while on the bus leaving, The Covenant School, following a school shooting Monday morning in Nashville , Tenn., Monday, March 27, 2023.
A child weeps on the bus leaving the school after the shooting.
Nicole Hester / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK
School buses with children arrive at Woodmont Baptist Church to be reunited with their families after a mass shooting at The Covenant School on March 27, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Police are looking to find more information about the shooter after finding the 28-year-old’s manifesto.
Seth Herald/Getty Images

Police said Hale had no police record or record of mental health problems and that they are in contact with the suspect’s father and plan to release video about the shooting in the coming days.

Police also released pictures of the weapons Hale used, two assault rifles and a handgun.

The Covenant School was founded in 2001 as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church and its annual tuition fees range between $7,250 for three-day pre-school and $16,500 for pupils in kindergarten through sixth grade.

Children and a woman depart the reunification center at the Woodmont Baptist church after a school shooting, Monday, March 27, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn.
The small, private school teaches students in pre-K to 6th grade.
AP Photo/John Bazemore
Audrey Hale
Hale was killed by police on Monday morning.
Linkedin/Audrey Hale

The school focuses its curriculum on biblical theology, where students take classes about the Bible along with standard education courses. Its motto is “Shepherding Hearts, Empowering Minds, Celebrating Childhood.”

The school is located in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood just south of Nashville’s Bluebird Cafe, a beloved spot for musicians and songwriters.

(I WOKE UP THIS MORNING THINKING, SINCE “WE ARE WATCHING A MOVIE! THINK MIRROR! TRUMP SAYS WE ARE GOING TO USE THE ESTABLISHMENT’S STRATEGIES, SUCH AS BALLOT HARVESTING, BUT LAWFULLY, WITH SIGNATURES THAT MATCH AND WITH REAL VOTERS’ TRUE WISHES!”, WHAT IF, (I AM HYPOTHESIZING HERE), IT IS TRUE THAT THE WHITE HATS ARE IN CONTROL OF THE NARRATIVES, THIS ALLEDGED SCHOOL SHOOTING THAT LOOKS AND REMINDS ME OF THE SANDY HOOK “DRILL” AND THE FLORIDA GAY CLUB SHOOTING, ET AL, IS BEING USED TO BRING OUT AND FOCUS ON THE “TRUE” ISSUES THAT ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LAST 6 SCHOOL SHOOTINGS LIKE MENTAL TRANSGENDER CAUSED ILLNESS INSTEAD OF STAGING FALSE FLAGS USED TO GO AFTER OUR 2ND AMENDMENT! WHAT IF?? JUST SAYIN… – LM)