The heavily armed shooter who blasted her way through a Tennessee Christian school on Monday, killing six, was identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a Nashville native who formerly attended the school, police said.
Hale, 28, had legally purchased seven guns from various local stores — including the three she used to gun down her victims at The Covenant School, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at a press conference Tuesday.
The shooter was also being treated for an emotional disorder — and had hidden her cache of weapons from her parents.
“She was under care, doctor’s care, for an emotional disorder,” Drake said, adding that cops “knew nothing about the treatment she was receiving.”
The police chief did not elaborate on what kind of emotional disorder she was suffering.
Hale also identified as transgender, Drake revealed at an earlier press conference Monday, though it wasn’t clear whether the suspect identified as a man or woman.
Asked whether Hale’s identity could be a factor in the motive, Drake said, “There is some theory to that, we’re investigating all the leads.”
Hale used male pronouns and the name Aiden on some social media accounts.
The 28-year-old — who was shot dead by cops during the 14-minute ordeal — was a commercial illustrator and graphic designer who posted her creations online and once worked on a children’s book about a support dog, according to a LinkedIn page.
On her website, she described herself as enjoying “binging on video games, watching movies, and playing sports.”
“There is a child-like part about me that loves to go run to the playground,” she wrote. “Animals are my second passion, so I also enjoy spending time with my two cats.”
Hale’s online portfolio also included an illustration dedicated to “The Shining” — featuring an eerie drawing of Jack Nicholson’s unhinged character Jack Torrance with the backward spelling of “MURDER.”
Hale attended Nossi College of Art, a tiny college in Nashville, and most recently worked part-time as a grocery shopper for Shipt, according to LinkedIn, which listed he/him pronouns.
Police have not elaborated on Hale’s connection to the Covenant School, other than to say she was a former student there.
A search of her home turned up detailed maps of the school, including entry points, and a manifesto, Drake said.
Police said Hale aborted plans to target another school in the area as it had too much security.
Just minutes before the massacre, Hale sent a friend a chilling “suicide note” — writing her: “I’m planning to die today.”
“So basically that post I made on here about you, that was basically a suicide note. I’m planning to die today,” Hale messaged Averianna Patton, her former middle school basketball teammate, on Instagram at 9:57 a.m. Monday.
A source close to the Hale family told The Daily Beast that the shooter was autistic “but high-functioning” — however, cops were not able to immediately confirm that.
A TikTok account under the name “iam_aiden10,” which linked to other social media associated with Hale, posted a video on Feb. 9 of a person’s shadow.
The clip showed them bouncing a basketball and then a basketball net, an apparent tribute to a friend who had died.
On the screen, it displayed the words: “For Syd. I look up the sky is bright. It’s a beautiful day. I wish you were here…”
The account was later deleted.
Hale’s mother, Norma Fort Hale, works as a coordinator at the Village Chapel, a Nashville church, according to Fort Hale’s apparent Facebook page.
The mom gushed about Hale and her brother on Facebook regularly, posting childhood photos of the pair with the caption, “Just grateful today to be the Mom of these 2 awesome kids!” in 2017.
The following year, she posted a link to a petition to “keep guns out of schools” in connection to the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012.
She wrote alongside the post, “So important!”
Women make up just 2% of mass shooters across the country, according to the Violence Project database, and Monday’s shooter is just the fifth female mass shooter in US history.
Hale was wielding two assault-style rifles and a pistol during the rampage and was killed by responding officers when they found her on the second floor of the school.
It wasn’t immediately clear when Hale attended the school or for how long.
The school had a protocol for an active shooter, but it wasn’t immediately clear if this was put in place during the shooting.
Police said at a press conference Monday afternoon that Hale had entered the school through a side door by shooting it out.
Chilling footage released by Nashville police late Monday shows Hale — wearing a red hat backwards, military fatigue pants and a dark vest — shooting out the doors of the Covenant School and then casually stalking the hallways with assault rifles.
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Police said they received the initial call about an active shooter at 10:13 a.m.
The responding officers quickly began clearing the first story of the school after hearing gunshots coming from the second floor.
The shooter was killed by cops at 10:27 a.m., officials said.
The victims were subsequently pronounced dead at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, according to police.
Officials identified the three slain students as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all age 9.
The three faculty members killed were Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill, both 61, and school head Katherine Koonce, 60.
The Covenant School is a Presbyterian school for about 200 students from preschool through sixth grade. The school has roughly 50 staff members.
Police later raided Hale’s home, blocking off surrounding streets to do so, residents told The Post.
One local said Hale lived at the house of her mother, Norma, who works at a church nearby, and father, Ron, who is self-employed, and that they had seen her on Sunday.
The source told The Post: “We’re just shocked. We would see [Hale] from time to time, she was very reserved and very quiet.”
