NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department released the final report on the Covenant School shooting Wednesday morning. The 48-page report covers a number of topics including motive, planning, and a detailed look at how the attack played out.
On March 27, 2023, six people, including three children, were shot and killed at the Covenant School in Green Hills. The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old; as well as Cynthia Peak, 61; Dr. Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.
Click here to read the complete report.
The shooter, 28-year-old Audrey Hale, was shot and killed by Metro officers Rex Engelbert, a 4-year veteran, and Michael Collazo, a 9-year veteran.
According to the report, the shooter sought notoriety and detectives worked to determine if Hale was sane. Metro police also determined Hale did not have any help with planning or on the day of the attack.
The report claims there was no “manifesto” and Hale did not leave a single document that explained the reason for the attack, nor why the Covenant School was specifically targeted or what Hale hoped to gain by carrying out the attack.
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Still image from the video surveillance footage from Royal Range, USA, showing Hale parked at the location
between 8:16 a.m. and 9:33 a.m. on March 27th, 2023 (Hale’s vehicle circled in red). (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photograph of Hale’s vehicle in the parking lot following the homicides. This photograph is the car as it was parked. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photograph of Hale’s vehicle in the parking lot following the homicides This photograph is the location of items of interest in the front passenger seat area. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photograph taken by a faculty member of the school while barricaded inside a room. This image shows Hale as
she’s firing upon police officers within the parking lot of the school. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photograph taken by crime scene investigators following the
homicides, showing the vehicles Hale damaged in the distance. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photographs of Hale’s firearms, taken following the murders by crime scene investigators. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photographs of Hale’s firearms, taken following the murders by crime scene investigators. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photographs of Hale’s firearms, taken following the murders by crime scene investigators. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
This photograph shows the handmade t-shirt found in Hale’s closet similar in appearance to the one she wore during the attack. (Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
This photograph shows the shotgun found in her closet.(Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photograph of the notebooks, composition books and sketchbooks, and folders recovered from Hale’s bedroom during a search of her residence on March 27th, 2023.(Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department) -
Photograph of the communications and memory storage devices, cassette tapes, and DVD seized from Hale during the investigation.(Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department)
Investigators executed search warrants at the Hale family home the same day of the shooting.
Inside, officers found two shotguns, one in a bedroom closet and another next to a desk in a bedroom. A suicide note was reportedly found on a desk in one of the bedrooms. According to police, a total of 152 rounds (126 rifle rounds and 26 9mm rounds) were fired from the time Hale shot into the school to the time Hale was shot and killed by police.
They also found writings, artwork sales receipts, and lists made by Hale, who once attended Covenant, as well as five cellphones, two laptop computers, VHS cassette tapes and multiple thumb drives.
Investigators said they found “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 where they had once been a student, the report says. But Hale worried about being labeled a racist because a large portion of that school's student population was Black, though Hale had “no qualms about killing anyone regardless of specific demographical categories,” police wrote.
A judge presided over the legal battle to release writings by the shooter. Covenant families have fought in court to keep Hale's writings secret, and a judge sided with them in the summer of 2024.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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