Bodycam footage has revealed the “swift” action of police storming a Nashville Christian school and shooting dead an armed suspect in less than 15 minutes.
An edited clip from cameras worn by two responding officers was released by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.
Police also shared more details and said the attacker had legally purchased seven guns and hid weapons at home.
The suspect’s chilling last messages revealed Hale, a 28-year-old former student of the school, had been “planning to die today”.
In an Instagram message to a friend, Hale wrote:
“THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!!
“You’ll probably hear about me on the news after I die.”
“This is my last goodbye. I love you … See you again in another life.”
The friend pleaded: “You have so much more life to live.”
But Hale replied: “I know but I don’t want to live. I’m so sorry. I’m not trying to upset you or get atttention. I just need to die.”
The message was signed “Audrey (Aiden).”
Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake said Hale self-identified as being transgender although he has offered no further clarity.
Chief Drake and other officials repeatedly referred to the suspect with female pronouns.
Hale used male pronouns on a LinkedIn page that listed recent jobs in graphic design and grocery delivery.
Among various pieces of evidence under examination by police and FBI agents were some of Hale’s writings, including the manifesto and a detailed hand-drawn map of the school showing various entry points, Chief Drake said.
Chief Drake told NBC the manifesto “indicates there was going to be shootings at multiple locations and that the school was one of them”.
Investigators believe Hale harboured “some resentment for having to go to that school” as a child, Chief Drake said without elaborating.
Dramatic bodycam footage
Police spokesman Don Aaron said the officers’ response was “swift”, with police neutralising the suspect within 15 minutes of receiving emergency calls.
The start of the Nashville police video shows an officer retrieving a rifle from his car boot before a staff member directs him to the entrance, telling him that the school is locked down but at least two children are not accounted for.
“Let’s go! I need three!” the officer yells as he uses a key to unlock a door and enter the building, where alarms can be heard ringing.
The video shows officers passing by bulletin boards with penguins and photos as they storm one room after another.
When the officers reach the second floor, one says, “We’ve got one down,” before they race down the hallway to confront the shooter.
Officer Rex Engelbert and Officer Michael Collazo – whose body cameras provided the footage – each fire several rounds at the suspect.
The video shows the assailant still moving on the ground as another officer repeatedly yells, “Get your hands away from the gun!”.
Hale, armed with two assault-style weapons, one of them a rifle, as well as a nine-millimetre pistol, gained entry to the school by shooting through the window of a side door, authorities said.
Monday’s violence marked the 90th school shooting – defined as any incident in which a gun is discharged on school property – in the US this year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database, a website founded by researcher David Riedman.
There were 303 such incidents last year, the highest of any year in the database which goes back to 1970.
