Chilling surveillance footage has been released showing the suspect carrying out the mass shooting that killed six people, including three children, at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee.
The footage, shared on Twitter by Metro Nashville Police Department, shows suspected shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, arriving in a Honda Fit car, parking, and then proceeding towards the school.
Hale is then seen shooting through the glass double side doors of the school before entering through the broken glass.
Once inside, the footage shows Hale walking around the school, along different hallways armed with an assault rifle, coming in and out of different rooms.
Hale is dressed in combat trousers, a vest and a red baseball cap turned backwards.
“Hale drove to Covenant Church/School in her Honda Fit this morning, parked, and shot her way into the building. She was armed with 2 assault-type guns and a 9 millimeter pistol,” police said.
“She was armed with these three guns and significant ammunition.”
The 28-year-old fired a number of rounds inside the school building, killing six victims.
Officials later identified the three school children and three adults killed in the private Christian elementary school as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill, both 61.
Hale, who is believed to be a former student at Covenant Presbyterian Church School, was shot dead by police officers on an upper floor of the school.
Police have identified the suspected shooter by their name at birth; Hale reportedly was a transgender man who used he/him pronouns, though law enforcement officials initially described the suspect as a woman in the aftermath of the shooting. Police did not provide another name but on the suspect’s social media accounts they refer to themselves as Aiden.
In answer to a question as to whether Hale’s transgender status might have any bearing on a motive, Metro Nashville Police chief John Drake said at a press conference: “There is some theory to that. We’re investigating all the leads and once we know exactly, we will let you know.”
Chief Drake said that the mass shooting was planned and “targeted” and that a manifesto had been found during a search of Hale’s home.
“We have a manifesto, we have some writings we’re going over that pertain to this day, the actual incident,” said the police chief.
“We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place. There’s right now a theory that we may be able to talk about later but it’s not confirmed, and so we’ll put that out as soon as we can.”
He later told NBC News that investigators believe the shooter had “some resentment for having to go to that school”.
Hale had also drawn a detailed map of the school ground, including potential entry points, and carried out surveillance of the building prior to massacre, he said.
Hale – an illustrator and graphic designer who attended Nossi College of Art – does not appear to have had any criminal record prior to Monday’s massacre.
According to The Tennessean, this is the fifth school shooting in the Nashville area since 2011 and the first since 2018.
