NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The mass murderer who killed three students and three staff members at Nashville’s Covenant School was motivated by a desire for notoriety — not any pent-up feelings toward the school that the shooter had attended as a child.
That is the conclusion of the final report issued Wednesday by the Metro Nashville Police Department, following a more than two-year investigation into the March 27, 2023, shooting. The 48-page executive summary paints a disturbing picture of the mental health decline of the shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale.
The report also concludes that no one else was involved in the shooting other than Hale, and it absolves Hale’s mental health providers of any responsibility in failing to report their patient’s conditions to authorities.
“Even though numerous disappointments in relationships, career aspirations, and independence fueled her depression, and even though this depression made her highly suicidal, this doesn’t explain the attack,” the report concludes.
Hale identified as male and used he/him as preferred pronouns, but was a biological female. Because Tennessee state law requires authorities to use a person’s biological sex, the report refers to Hale using feminine pronouns.
While police had suggested in the early hours of the investigation that Hale had left behind a "manifesto," there was not "a single document that outlines all the factors, intentions, and objectives" of the shooter, the report says.
"Hale never left behind a single document explaining why she committed the attack, why she specifically targeted The Covenant, and what she hoped to gain, if anything, with the attack," it continues.
Instead, Hale left "a series of notebooks, art composition books, and media files ... documenting her planning and preparation for the attack, the events in her life that motivated her to commit the attack and her hopes regarding the outcome of the attack."
"No single document, notebook, or digital device contains the answer to those questions," authorities explain. "The answer is scattered throughout all the assembled material, which required a careful review of the material to understand Hale’s motive."
As to motive, “as Hale wrote on several occasions, if suicide was her goal then she would have simply killed herself,” the report continues.
“Throughout the writings and videos, Hale frequently commented that her death needed to matter and be remembered. Throughout her life, Hale experienced loneliness and disappointment. She felt abandoned and ignored by those she longed to befriend and engage with romantically, which angered her more than anything else.”
Hale “believed that by simply committing suicide, she would be quickly forgotten and not even worthy of a footnote in history.”
The shooter craved the notoriety achieved by other school shooters and had a “deep desire … to become a ‘god’ like them and other mass killers who attained notoriety, even if it meant infamy.”
Hale also “saw herself as a victim in the attack,” even perhaps “‘the true victim’ in the attack.”
In fact, the victims that day were: Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney, Hallie Scruggs, all age 9, along with staff members Michael Hill, Katherine Koonce and Cynthia Peak.
Authorities noted that “Hale felt she would be a failure if she killed less than 10 people during the attack.”
“In that respect, she did fail, in no small part due to the actions of the faculty and staff at The Covenant School.”
While conspiracy theorists have claimed that Hale may have targeted The Covenant School because of ill will toward the school itself or even toward Christians, the report perversely concludes that the school was chosen because Hale had been happy while attending kindergarten through fourth grade there.
The shooter had considered attacking several other schools or area malls, the report says.
“Hale frequently believed her life had to travel in a full circle, and she felt a personal connection to a place was necessary when selecting the location where she would die,” the report continues.
According to the report, "Hale often remarked her time at The Covenant School was the happiest she was during her childhood education."
"She never remarked of being bullied and ostracized there. On the contrary, she remarked on a couple of occasions how she established friendships, which included play-dates at the homes of other children and a sense of acceptance. She gave no examples of how anyone at the school belittled her or harmed her, as she did in other places she attended school.
"Because of this, Hale felt The Covenant School was the perfect place to commit an attack, as it was the perfect setting for her death."
In addition, Hale “believed the Christian faith of those within would make them meek and afraid, which further assuaged Hale’s self-doubts.”
Reviewing Hale’s history of mental health treatment, the report concludes that the shooter’s therapists “did the best they could.”
"Hale was without question highly depressed and highly suicidal throughout her life," the summary continues, noting that the shooter had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, social phobias and other emotional disorders.
Still, Hale managed to downplay the seriousness of the situation with mental health providers.
“She had enough experience with the mental healthcare system to understand which topics to avoid with her providers and how to manipulate them into believing her documented issues with homicidal and suicidal ideations were well in her past," the report says.
"Based on the available records, Hale repeatedly denied to her providers of having current homicidal or suicidal ideations and learned how to be convincing with her denials.”