‘We Believe in Prayer’: Top Tennessee Official Defends Prayers After Christian School Shooting

People pay their respects at a makeshift memorial for victims at the Covenant School building at the Covenant Presbyterian Church following a shooting, in Nashville, Tenn., on March 28, 2023. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation defended prayer on Monday as an appropriate response to tragedies in the wake of a mass shooting in Nashville that left six people dead.

“I want to echo what [the] chief has said in reference to the great support and the great teamwork that has been taking place here, as well as sending our heartfelt prayers to the families, to this community of these victims,” TBI Director David Rausch said at a press conference on Monday.

“Now, I know there’ll be people who want to criticize us for prayers. But that’s the way we do that in the South, right? We believe in prayer and we believe in the power of prayer. And so, our prayers go out to these families,” he continued, seemingly referring to some left-wing criticism of officials’ statements offering prayers to the families of the victims.

Rausch was not responding to any specific critical comments during his statements to reporters Monday.

Gun-control advocates and prominent left-wing social media users in recent years have criticized elected officials for offering “thoughts and prayers” following high-profile mass shootings, arguing that lawmakers should pass gun-control measures to prevent such incidents. A similar phenomenon occurred on Monday and Tuesday, with some criticizing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and others for their statements.

A progressive radio host, David Pakman, drew widespread criticism on Twitter Monday after he said that prayers did not prevent the mass shooting. Pakman later deleted his Twitter post.

During the news conference, Rausch said that TBI investigators were assisting local law enforcement with the investigation. He said the agency will provide oversight of their investigation, without elaborating.

Authorities confirmed the suspect, Audrey Hale, 28, was a former student at The Covenant School, a Christian private shcool. Hale did not target specific victims—among them three 9-year-olds and the head of the school—but did target “this school, this church building,” police spokesperson Don Aaron said at a news conference Tuesday.

Hale was under a doctor’s care for an undisclosed emotional disorder and was not known to police before the attack, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at the news conference. Hale wasn’t on local authorities’ radar before the violence on Monday.

Chief of Police John Drake delivers a press briefing at the entrance of The Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., on March 28, 2023. Seth Herald/Getty Images

If police had been told that Hale was suicidal or homicidal, “then we would have tried to get those weapons,” Drake said. “But as it stands, we had absolutely no idea who this person was or if [Hale] even existed.”

Police have given unclear information on Hale’s gender. For hours Monday, police identified the shooter as a woman. Later in the day, the police chief said Hale was transgender. After the news conference, Aaron declined to elaborate on how Hale identified.

Police spokesperson Kristin Mumford told The Associated Press Hale “was assigned female at birth. Hale did use male pronouns on a social media profile.” A LinkedIn profile that appeared to be associated with the shooter showed that she used “he/him” pronouns.

On Tuesday, Drake said that authorities found a map and a manifesto that had belonged to the suspect. Details about the contents of Hale’s writings were not provided, although Drake said that she included details about how to enter The Covenant School.

When police officers arrived, they noticed that Hale positioned herself on an upper-level floor of the school and was attempting to conceal herself. Bodycamera footage released Tuesday morning shows a group of officers rushing to the floor and checking various rooms before they shot the suspect as Drake and other authorities have praised the responding officers’ decisiveness.

Authorities identified the slain children as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney. The adults were identified as Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

Police identified Officer Rex Engelbert, a four-year member of the force, and Michael Collazo, a nine-year member, as the officers who fatally shot Hale. A police spokesman said there were no police officers present or assigned to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.

The website of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school founded in 2001, lists Katherine Koonce as the head of the school. Her LinkedIn profile says she has led the school since July 2016. Peak was a substitute teacher, and Hill was a custodian, according to investigators.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.