Earlier today, a tragic school shooting took place at The Covenant School, a Christian elementary school in Nashville, claiming the lives of three young students and three teachers.
At about 10:13 am, a shooter entered the elementary school from a side entrance while carrying two assault-style rifles and a pistol. The shooter was eventually shot dead by the police around 10:27 am.
The identities of the six victims in the Covenant School shooting have been released by Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake.
Evelyn Diekhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old, were the children killed in this senseless attack.
A young Hallie Scruggs is pictured with her father, William Kinney, the pastor of the Covenant Church. She was 9 years old when she was murdered by transgender Audrey (Aiden) Hale today.
Here is an updated photo of Hallie Scruggs and her beautiful family; Hallie is in the front row on the right.
Chad Scruggs is the Pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Nashville and his 9 year old daughter, Hallie, was a victim in today’s shooting.
Please shower these families in prayer. 🙏🙏🙏#NashvilleCovenantSchool pic.twitter.com/JyHCi521ZU— Blue Starr 🇺🇸💫 (@bluestarrfl) March 27, 2023
The teachers who were fatally shot have been identified as Cynthia Peak, age 61, Dr. Katherine Koonce, age 60, and Mike Hill, age 61.
The 6 victims fatally shot by the active shooter at Covenant School are identified as: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9, Cynthia Peak, age 61, Katherine Koonce, age 60, and Mike Hill, age 61.
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 27, 2023
Koonce had been at the school for almost seven years and was Head of School at The Covenant School.
Hill was a custodian at the school, and Peak worked as a substitute teacher.
The shooting suspect has been identified as 28-year-old transgender Audrey Hale, a former student at the school.
*Unconfirmed* reports identify the Nashville shooter as “Audrey Hale”, a biological female that identifies as “He/Him” on their LinkedIn
Authorities believe the transgender shooter previously attended the Christian school
Instagram account “creative.aiden” has been deleted pic.twitter.com/ybdQVQsZ6H
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) March 27, 2023
Audrey Hale quoted on art website saying “there is a child like part about me that loves to go run to the playground” pic.twitter.com/jJfE3W3bso
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) March 27, 2023
Police later found a manifesto left behind by Hale, showing that this shooting had been premeditated.
Based on the information in the manifesto, Nashville police are still looking into the possibility that Hale’s attack was motivated by her transgender identity.
During an earlier press conference, a reporter asked Nashville police if they “have any reason to believe that how she identifies has any motive for targeting the school.”
“There is some theory to that,” the officer responded.
REPORTER: "Do you have any reason to believe that how she identifies has any motive for targeting the school?"
NASHVILLE POLICE: "There is some theory to that."
REPORTER: "So was this a targeted attack?"
NASHVILLE POLICE: "It was." pic.twitter.com/NDfm9XBCcV
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) March 27, 2023