Just minutes before Audrey Hale arrived at the Nashville Covenant School and gunned down six people — three of which were children — the 28-year-old sent a series of messages to a friend, telling her he was ready to die. Averinna Patton seemed determined to try and convince Hale, who used he/him pronouns, not to take his life after the shooter penned a suicide letter to her, explaining that while Hale was ready to die, he hoped to be reunited with Patton “in another life.”
“So basically that post I made on here about you, that was basically a suicide note. I’m planning to die today. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!!!,” he said in a direct message sent via Instagram at 9.57 AM on Monday. “You’ll probably hear about me on the news after I die. This is my last goodbye. I love you. See you again in another life Audrey (Aiden).” When Patton tried to assure Hale that he had much more life to live and that he was praying to keep God over him, the former student of the Christian school said he simply didn’t want to live anymore.
Judging by the last bit of his message, Hale thought it was important to disclose his “suicide” plans to Patton because he deemed her the most beautiful person she’d ever met. “My family doesn’t know what I’m about to do. One day this will make more sense. I’ve left more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.” Shortly after the message, Hale entered the Nashville Covenant School with two assault rifles and a handgun as he opened fire on innocent children, teachers, and staffers.
Patton told News Channel 5 that she called the Nashville Davidson County Sheriff’s Office to alert cops but was told to call the non-emergency number instead. But at that point, it was already too late.
“After phone calls from friends and Audrey’s name was released as the shooter at Covenant Nashville school, I learned that Audrey was the shooter and that she had reached out to me prior to the shooting,” she said. “My heart is with all of the families affected and I’m devastated by what has happened.”
The families of the deceased children were devastated by the shooting. They had lost their children in a senseless act of violence, and were left to grapple with their grief and pain. The shooting had a ripple effect throughout the community, with many people coming together to offer support and comfort to the families affected by the tragedy.
Hale’s entrance is recorded on video, with the glass shards of the doors’ panes flying everywhere as they break apart. Hale is seen in the surveillance footage with a red baseball cap, a white t-shirt with a tactical vest, and camouflage pants while he is traversing through the hallways.
At first, law enforcement referred to Hale as female, since that is the gender she was assigned at birth, yet later they corrected this by stating that Hale was transgender, and used masculine pronouns on social media profiles.
The authorities reported that the perpetrator had no pattern to the people he targeted, killing them without discrimination. Hale’s High School acquaintances expressed their surprise that the person they knew as ‘outgoing’ was the perpetrator of the mass shooting.
#BREAKING: Brand new security footage has just been released to the public showing the Active shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale drove to Covenant Church/School in her Honda Fit this morning, parked, and shot her way into the building. She was armed with 2 assault-type guns and a 9… pic.twitter.com/OkrtC64iqg
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) March 28, 2023
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John Drake, the police chief, declared that the police department had a written plan and documents that are being studied in relation to the events.
Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all nine years old, Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill, and Katherine Koonce – the head of the school – have been identified as the six victims.