Police in Nashville on Tuesday said that the suspect involved in the Christian private school shooting that left six people, including three children, dead was being treated for an “emotional disorder.”
When asked about whether she posed a danger to others beforehand and how she came into possession of firearms, Drake said, “As it stands we had no idea who this person was or if she existed.”
Her parents were not aware that she owned firearms, but Drake said that it was later learned after the shooting that she was “hiding several weapons” in her parents’ house. Hale legally purchased “seven firearms from five different gun stores” in Nashville, Drake said.
“We also don’t have a motive at this time,” Drake said. “We feel that the students that were targeted were randomly targeted. There was not any particular student that she was looking for at the time.”
Drake also elaborated on an alleged “manifesto” written by Hale, saying there were “other locations” that she had identified other than The Covenant School. She also made a drawing about how she would enter the school, he said, adding that the Nashville Police Department and FBI are investigating.
When officers arrived, they noted that Hale may have had “some training” on how to shoot a firearm and noted that she appeared to have shot at responding police vehicles, Drake said. Hale also stood away from the glass from an upper level of the school to conceal herself as she fired at officers, he said, adding that she did so as to not become “an easy target.”
Police have released videos of the shooting, including edited surveillance footage that shows the shooter’s car driving up to the school, glass doors being shot out, and the shooter ducking through one of them.
Additional video from Officer Rex Engelbert’s bodycam shows a woman greeting police outside as they arrive at The Covenant School on Monday. “The kids are all locked down, but we have two kids that we don’t know where they are,” she tells police. “OK, yes, ma’am,” Engelbert replies.
Later, officers are seen climbing stairs to the second floor and entering a lobby area. “Move in,” an officer yells. Then a barrage of gunfire is heard. “Get your hands away from the gun,” an officer yells twice. Then the shooter is shown motionless on the floor.
Police earlier said Hale had drawn a detailed map of the school, including potential entry points, and conducted surveillance of the building before carrying out the massacre, authorities said.
When Drake was asked about whether Hale targeted the Christian private school because of an animus against Christians or for religious reasons, the police chief stated he cannot confirm that information. He did note that the Easter holiday season is soon approaching.
On Monday, Drake said that Hale was born female and identified as transgender. However, a police spokesperson later told The Epoch Times that it’s not clear how Hale identified, but also told The Associated Press that she used male-identifying pronouns.
According to a LinkedIn profile that purportedly belonged to Hale, she opened a graphic design business last year and used “he/him” pronouns. Surveillance footage that was released by the police department on Monday night showed Hale, who was clad in a camouflage vest, wearing a red backwards cap.
In a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday, police spokesperson Kristin Mumford stated that Hale “was assigned female at birth. Hale did use male pronouns on a social media profile.”
“We do know that she was a student at that church at one point,” Drake said, referring to the school.
