Audrey Hale (Photo : Metropolitan Nashville Police Department/Handout )
The individual responsible for the recent Nashville school shooting had sent warning messages to a former middle school basketball teammate just minutes before opening fire at The Covenant School. Averianna Patton received the Instagram messages at 9:57 a.m. Monday, less than 20 minutes before authorities were alerted to the incident.
Audrey Hale, identified by police as the shooter, mentioned in the messages that they didn't want to live anymore and that their family was unaware of their plans. Hale is transgender, and Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake confirmed this on Monday. In the initial message to Patton, Hale signed it as "Audrey (Aiden)."
Patton tried to offer support in her responses, as shown in the message screenshots. In their final message, Hale indicated that something terrible was about to happen and asked for forgiveness. Patton, a Nashville resident, had attended Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School with Hale. Alarmed by the messages, she forwarded them to her father and inquired whether she should contact someone.
Upon her father's encouragement, Patton first called the suicide prevention hotline, which advised her to contact the Davidson County Sheriff's Office. The office, in turn, instructed her to dial a nonemergency number. Although Patton was informed that someone would come to her house, they arrived hours later, by which time she had left for a meeting. She later discovered that Hale had carried out the shooting.
Patton expressed her shock at receiving the message before the attack and urged others to "just pray." Both the sheriff's office and police department confirmed receiving calls from Patton, but a police spokesperson stated that her call came in at 10:21 a.m., after the shooting had begun. Consequently, all police resources were already deployed at the school, which is why officers did not immediately go to Patton's home.
Patton last saw Hale a few weeks prior to the incident at a painting event commemorating a mutual friend who had died in a car accident. According to Patton, there were no indications that anything was wrong with Hale at that time.
As Patton tries to process the events, she admits to being "speechless." The shooting resulted in the deaths of three children, identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old, as well as three adults: substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, school head Katherine Koonce, 60, and custodian Mike Hill, 61.
Hale, 28, reportedly entered the school by shooting through a locked door, armed with two AR-style weapons, a handgun, and "significant ammunition." The first call to the police about the shooter came in at 10:13 a.m. local time.
Upon their arrival, officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo heard gunshots coming from the second floor and "immediately went to the gunfire." Police released body camera footage on Tuesday morning, showing the moment officers confronted and killed the shooter.
The footage shows the moment cops took out Audrey Hale after she opened fire at the Covenant School in Nashville on Monday.
Although the motive for the attack remains unclear, Police Chief Drake suggested that "resentment" may have been a factor. Hale had previously attended the school. Bill Campbell, the former headmaster, recalled Hale as a third grader in 2005 and a fourth grader in 2006, adding that Hale likely transferred after that school year.
Drake told NBC News' Lester Holt, "There's some belief that there was some resentment for having to go to that school." Authorities found detailed maps, surveillance, and writings left behind by Hale, which are currently being examined by local and federal investigators. There were also indications that Hale had planned to target other locations.
