NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — On March 27, a gunman fired 152 rounds of ammunition inside The Covenant School during the 14 minutes of a mass shooting, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.
The shooter killed six people before police shot the suspect, who had written for months about the planned attack on the school. Police said the gunman's writings are under "careful review" of the FBI. Motive has yet to be established, police said. When police shot the gunman, authorities said they used nine rounds to kill the shooter.
"It is known that Hale considered the actions of other mass murderers," police said in a statement Monday.
Authorities with the Metro Nashville Police Department said none of the individuals — three 9-year-old students and three adults — were targeted at the school building. Police have interviewed the shooter's parents, who told them that their child was under a doctor's care for an emotional disorder. They didn't want their child to have guns, thinking their child had sold the only gun they possessed.
Police said that wasn't the case. The shooter had ultimately purchased more firearms to make a total of seven, which were hidden in the shooter's household.
The Metro Nashville Police Department will handle the homicide aspect of the investigation. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation will look at the situation that led officers to fire their weapons at the shooter. The TBI investigates all deadly shootings that involve officers.
On Monday, March 27, six people were shot and killed by a gunman at The Covenant School.
Police received the 911 call for the shooting at 10:13 a.m. Within 14 minutes, Metro Police were able to take down the shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale.
Hale gained access to the building through a side door that they shot through. From there, the shooter went upstairs and shot at police through the windows.
Two members of an officer team fired on Hale. Those two officers are officer Rex Englebert, a four-year MNPD veteran, and officer Michael Collazo, a nine-year MNPD veteran.
Who died in the shooting?
- Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9
- Hallie Scruggs, 9
- William Kinney, 9
- Cynthia Peak, 61
- Katherine Koonce, 60
- Mike Hill, age 61
The shooter was a 28-year-old Nashvillian who lived in the Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood.
