Image Credit: MNPD
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
After more than two years since a mentally unstable, young woman murdered three children and three adults at The Covenant School, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has released its final report, having wrapped up their investigation.
In their 40-page report, MNPD concluded that shooter Audrey Hale’s main motive in the attack was to gain notoriety and to be remembered for the carnage she had wrought.
To that end, Hale left behind detailed plans that included diagrams and timelines that she hoped would be made public, thereby making her an inspiration to other would-be school shooters.
Among her morbid aspirations, was Hale’s desire that books be written about her, and movies or documentaries be made about her life and her brutal attack on her victims. She also wanted her guns to be displayed in a museum, and her bedroom to be memorialized and kept as she left it, no doubt along with the stuffed animals that she confided in as friends and which she took with her to the school. Hale hoped to take out at least 40 people in her attack, saying that her efforts would amount to failure should she kill less than ten.
For these reasons, and knowing that Hale had researched Columbine High School’s shooting prior to committing her own, MNPD believe releasing the specifics of Hale’s plan would inspire copycat crimes.
Lonely and isolated, Hale had no friends she felt she could turn to. From her writings, some 1,300 pages, spanning six years and up to the day of her murder spree, MNPD found Hale suffered from serious mental health issues including suicidal ideation and attempts.
Hale also wrote many anger-fueled, expletive-filled entries which included homicidal fantasies about her father that were intended to “blow off steam.”
While Hale wrote about her desire to change her gender, and was dressed as a male on the day of the killings, nothing was found that suggested Hale was undergoing any kind of medical treatment for gender dysphoria.
Far from bearing a grudge against Covenant, Hale selected the location as a fitting place to die, having fond memories of her time at the school.
However, during her planning, Hale considered several potential targets. Some of these were other schools such as Harpeth Hall Academy, and Nashville School of the Arts. Nearby malls and busy intersections were also considered.
In her quest for infamy, Hale chose to act alone, both in her preparation of and during the attack.
Initially, Hale began planning an attack on Cresswell Middle School to coincide with the date of the Columbine shooting, but later abandoned the school as a target due to the number of Black students who attended. Hale did not want her “legacy” to be one of perceived racism.
Almost two years later, during 2020, Hale used federal student loan money to purchase a firearm. The same year, Hale made thirteen videos that explained her motivation for attacking a school.
Her preparation begun in earnest the following year. By the beginning of 2021, Hale narrowed her focus to The Covenant School which she studied and began visiting after school hours. She also bought a second firearm. After canceling her plan to attack Cresswell Middle in early April, The Covenant School became her sole focus.With the school being Christian, she believed an attack would gain greater outrage and attention.
After taking possession of a third gun, Hale’s mother found a copy of the Columbine diaries which Hale had purchased. After her mother took the book to Hale’s therapist, she agreed to hand over the three guns to her parents for safekeeping. However, on July 7th, 2021, Hale bought a fourth firearm using the remainder of a student loan grant, as well as a credit card to pay for it. She would purchase a fifth gun in 2022.
In order to become familiar with The Covenant School’s layout, Hale went to the school, saying she was an alum, and asked for a tour which she was given on September 18th, 2021. During this access to the school, she took photographs and video with which she created a detailed map.
Hale then chose to train for the attack, postponing the date until April of 2022. The delay was also meant to make her parents believe that she was no longer a threat to anyone.
During 2022, Hale studied mass shootings, especially school shootings, and took firearms training classes. She also researched other potential locations she might attack as alternatives.
Hale postponed the attack several times due to different factors, including graduating from college, and the death of a childhood friend which sent her into a deep depression.
Growing ever more paranoid, by the fall of 2022, Hale was creating “emergency” plans that included shooting and killing her parents and selecting an alternative location to Covenant where she intended to shoot more people.
By December, she had bought a tactical vest which she would later use during the attack, as well as a knife with which she could break glass.
After postponing her plan in January and February of 2023, Hale was determined to carry it out in March.
The night before the shooting, she made a final video. The next morning, she wrote a goodbye note to her parents and messaged someone from her middle school years, saying she was going to kill herself.
MNPD found that neither the firearms retailers that sold Hale the guns, nor the mental health professionals she saw, or her parents did anything wrong and that Hale was solely responsible for her actions.
Sources:
https://embed.documentcloud.org/documents/25877259-covenant-final-summary/?embed=1
https://www.wsmv.com/2025/04/02/full-investigative-report-released-deadly-covenant-school-shooting
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
One Response
Of course, no mention of lucifer’s pharma’s psycho drugs she was on.