The shooter behind the fatal 2023 Nashville elementary school shooting that left six people dead, including three children, had been planning the attack for years while hiding their mental health issues from medical providers and hoping the carnage would bring notoriety and fame, a new report released Wednesday reveals.
The nearly 50-page investigative case summary by Metro Nashville Police closes the agency's probe into The Covenant School shooting.
The investigation found that no manifesto existed. Instead, the shooter, Audrey Hale, left behind "a series of notebooks, art composition books, and media files created by Hale documenting her planning and preparation for the attack, the events in her life that motivated her to commit the attack, and her hopes regarding the outcome of the attack," police determined.
The report says Hale researched other shooting locations, including highly traveled roads and shopping malls. By December 2018, Hale also began planning an attack at a different middle school, the report says.
During the March 2023 shooting at the private, Christian school, those killed were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old, alongside Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.
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