Nashville school shooter named as manifesto found after massacre

A shooter who identified as transgender has opened fire at their former US primary school, killing three adults and three children aged nine.

The shooter who killed three children and three adults at a Christian primary school in the US state of Tennessee may have resented having to attend the school in the past, police chief John Drake said.

Audrey Hale, 28, who identified as transgender, was killed by police less than 15 minutes after opening fire on children and staff members at random inside The Covenant School in Nashville.

Audrey Hale killed three children and three adults.

One of the three guns used by the shooter and recovered at the scene along with ammunition at The Covenant School building in Nashville. Picture: AFP

This image released by the Metro Nashville Police Department shows the second story broken windows the shooter fired from on arriving police vehicles. Picture: Metro Nashville Police Department / AFP

The former student carefully planned the attack with detailed maps and surveillance, leaving behind a manifesto, police said.

The six victims in the massacre were named as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age nine, Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of Chad Scruggs, the pastor at the school’s affiliated Presbyterian church.

School massacre victim Hallie Scruggs with her father Chad, who is a pastor at the church affiliated with the school.

School head Katherine Koonce, 60, was also shot dead. Picture: The Covenant School

School custodian Mike Hill was killed. Picture: Facebook

“There’s some belief that there was some resentment at having to go to that school, don’t have all the details for that just yet, and that’s why this incident occurred,” Mr Drake said in an interview with NBC.

In the aftermath of the shooting, police initally identified Hale as a “transgender woman”.

Accroding to US media reports, Hale was born a woman but used he/him pronouns, suggesting Hale was lving as a man.

Hale also reportedly used the name Aiden on some online profiles.

Schoolchildren are reunited with their parents. Picture: Seth Herald/Getty Images

A child walks with her father after being rushed to safety. Picture: Seth Herald / Getty Images

A US Marshal stands outside Woodmont Baptist Church while waiting for children to be reunited with their families after the mass shooting. Picture: Seth Herald/Getty Images

All three adults worked at the school, NBC reported. Mr Hill worked as the school’s caretaker, Ms Peak was identified by authorities as a substitute teacher and Ms Koonce is listed as head of school on the school’s website.

15 MINUTES OF HORROR

Police searched Hale’s home and found evidence of a targeted attack, the police chief told reporters.

“We have a manifesto, we have some writings we are going over that pertain to this day, the actual incident, we have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place,” he said.

Police said it was unclear what the killer’s motive was.

“My initial findings is that at one point she was a student at that school, but it’s unsure what year,” Mr Drake told reporters.

Asked specifically if Hale’s identity could have factored into the killer’s motive, Mr Drake said: “There is some theory to that, we’re investigating all the leads.”

Hale, who police initially believed was a teenager, entered The Covenant School armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun from a side door before opening fire, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron told a press conference.

Officers were on the scene within about 15 minutes of receiving the first emergency call around 10am (1am AEDT).

Hale fired multiple shots on the first and second floors of the school before being shot dead by police on the second floor, Mr Aaron said.

School buses with children arrive at Woodmont Baptist Church to be reunited with their families after the mass shooting at The Covenant School. Picture: Seth Herald/Getty Images

Children at Woodmont Baptist Church after being ferried to safety by buses from the scene of the shooting. Picture: Seth Herald/Getty Images/AFP

“All of the remaining students were able to be escorted out of the building with faculty and staff,” Kendra Loney of the Nashville fire department said.

“We were on scene to help them mitigate anyone from seeing exactly what else was going on,” she said.

“But we are sure that they heard the chaos that was surrounding this, so we do have mental health specialists and professionals that are at that reunification site for both the students and the families.”

An aerial view of the Covenant School, the scene of the massacre. Picture: NewsChannel 5 Nashville

The Covenant School is a private Presbyterian institution with a little more than 200 students in preschool to roughly age 12.

School shootings are alarmingly common in the US, where the proliferation of firearms has soared in recent years, though female shooters are extremely rare.

🚨#BREAKING: 3 dead, multiple injured, after a gunman opened fire at the Covenant School in #Nashville, Tennessee pic.twitter.com/Rs6H2nkp5z

— Breaking News 24/7 (@Worldsource24) March 27, 2023

The Nashville Police said in a tweet: “An active shooter event has taken place at Covenant School, Covenant Presbyterian Church, on Burton Hills Dr. The shooter was engaged by MNPD and is dead. Student reunification with parents is at Woodmont Baptist Church.”

Police have yet to publicly identify the shooter or the victims, or say how many have been wounded.

The Vanderbilt University Medical Centre was put on alert to take in the injured being transported from the school.

This image released by the Metro Nashville Police Department shows officers responding to a shooting at Covenant School and Presbyterian Church, in Nashville, Tennessee. Picture: AFP

The FBI and Nashville branch of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) has also deployed agents to assist in investigating the attack.

Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell said in a statement: “Nashville has, sadly, today joined the communities that have experienced a school shooting. For now, my focus is turning to supporting the impacted families and revisiting our efforts to prevent these horrifying scenarios.”

Several elected officials in the state of Tennessee likewise took to social media to express their shock.

“Devastated and heartbroken about the tragic news at Covenant School,” tweeted Senator Bill Hagerty.

“I’m grateful to law enforcement and first responders for their heroic actions.” Senator Marsha Blackburn thanked first responders and offered “prayer for those affected.” Legislation tackling gun violence has met with deadlock in Washington despite the public uproar over high-profile massacres such as the one at Sandy Hook elementary school in Connecticut in 2012, when 26 people, including 20 children were killed.

Last year, a shooter in Uvalde, Texas, killed 19 students and two teachers.

BIDEN’S BIZARRE ICE CREAM JOKE

US President Joe Biden raised eyebrows when he made a joke about ice cream at the White Houe before addressing the horrific mass shooting.

“My name is Joe Biden. I’m Dr. Jill Biden’s husband,” the 80-year-old US President began his remarks at an East Room gathering of women-owned businesses, the New York Post reports.

“And I eat Jeni’s ice cream — chocolate chip. I came down because I heard there was chocolate chip ice cream,” he said.

“By the way, I have a whole refrigerator full upstairs,” Mr Biden said. . “You think I’m kidding? I’m not.”

US President Joe Biden speaks during the Women’s Business Summit in the East Room of the White House. Picture: AFP

The US President then turned serious to address the shooting, calling it “sick” and “a family’s worst nightmare” before demanding that Congress pass a ban on assault weapons.

He then bizarrely returned to the subject of ice cream with a shout-out to a rep from Jeni’s, a chain with shops across the US.

“The businesses represented in this room stretch across industries, from restaurants to architectural firms to hardware stores, plus Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream. And by the way — by the way, it is splendid,” Mr Biden gushed.

“If I were allowed to take you upstairs, you got a whole freezer full of Jeni’s chocolate chip ice cream,” Mr Biden said.

– With the New York Post and AFP

Originally published as Nashville school shooter named as manifesto found after massacre