Global Courant 2023-05-19 15:00:22
Audrey Hale, the 28-year-old assailant who killed six people, including three 9-year-old students, at a Nashville Christian elementary school in late March, left behind a manifesto, artwork and other writings, according to police.
But the documents have not yet been released and lawsuits demand that they be made public.
While police have not revealed a motive, Hale studied previous mass shooters, planned and targeted the school and left a copious paper trail, according to authorities. Other killers have left behind similar documents, leaving a grim trail of evidence and possibly inspiring future killers as well.
“When people who intend to kill others write manifestos, they want their motivation published,” explains Dr. Katherine Ramsland, a professor of forensic psychology at DeSales University. “Sometimes it’s a suicide note, but it can also be an attempt to punish or inspire others to follow their lead.”
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Metro Nashville police release video of 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale prowling the hallways of The Covenant School, a church-affiliated Christian elementary school, March 27, 2023. (Nashville Metro Police)
Ramsland, the author of “Inside the Minds of Mass Murderers,” said such murderers usually express themselves against people, institutions or their own social status.
The National Police Association, media outlets and many citizens want answers. According to the law enforcement group’s attorney, the association is partially concerned that the city police’s work is being hampered by “outside influences” trying to keep the manifesto secret.
“It’s not like Hale was just delusional or had a really quick psychotic break from reality. This was planned. Hale put time into this. Hale was very, very functional.”
The state law is “simple and straightforward,” and the documents must be made public unless they fall under an exemption, said Doug Pierce, the attorney representing the National Police Association and private investigator Clata Brewer in a lawsuit against the city of Nashville and Davidson County.
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Audrey Hale was named by police as the gunman who opened fire at The Covenant School on the morning of March 27, killing three children and three adults. The 28-year-old artist studied there as a child and recently began identifying as a man, according to police. (Instagram)
“It’s heartbreaking when you think about it, 9-year-old kids shot,” Pierce told Fox News Digital. “It’s very sick, sad and heartbreaking.”
Under Tennessee law, documents produced or received by government agencies conducting public business become public records unless they fall into an exempt category. City and county officials have argued that there is an ongoing investigation. With the shooter dead, lawyers from the NPA and other groups behind similar lawsuits claim there is no active law enforcement proceeding.
“The manifesto gives them a chance to feel empowered as they write it, as they envision the damage they will do to a society that otherwise ignores them.”
“Rule 16 of Tennessee’s criminal procedure rules, that’s a very solid legal foundation. We just don’t think it actually applies here,” Pierce said. “The shooter is dead.”
Sometimes, after a suspect is killed by police, an investigation may remain open on the officers involved. However, Pierce said that’s not what’s going on in Nashville.
“Everyone agrees that this is not the case,” he said. “They acted in a very commendable and heroic manner, so they are not in trouble.”
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Body camera footage shows Nashville Police Department officers responding to The Covenant School in Nashville after 28-year-old Audrey Hale opened fire on March 27. (Nashville Metropolitan Police Department)
Earlier this week, the school was embroiled in the lawsuit, demanding redaction of some documents, including Hale’s hand-drawn maps of the school. While the NPA said it did not oppose the school’s motion, a hearing scheduled for Thursday in the matter was moved to Monday, May 22, after a group of parents also asked to intervene.
Hale, an artist, had attended the school as a child. The killer had recently begun to identify as a transgender man, according to police, and while the attack is believed to have been planned in advance, the motive remains unclear.
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Memorials to the six victims killed in a mass shooting outside The Covenant School in Nashville on March 30, 2023. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
“They want their problem noticed,” Ramsland told Fox News Digital. “The manifesto gives them a chance to feel empowered as they write it, as they envision the damage they will do to a society that otherwise ignores them.”
John Kelly, a criminal profiler who has interviewed countless serial killers, says it’s important to analyze Hale’s writings to discern a motive and try to stop the next shooting before it happens.
Robin Wolfenden prays at a makeshift memorial to victims outside The Covenant School at Covenant Presbyterian Church following a shooting in Nashville on March 28, 2023. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
“The manifesto really needs to be analyzed down to the last detail,” he told Fox News Digital. “Hopefully it will give us some answers because he is a rare mass murderer, because he declares himself a man – and we haven’t seen this before.”
According to authorities, Hale recently identified himself on social media as Aiden Hale.
“He fully believed that certain parts of society were the cause of negative events in his life,” Kelly said. “I think we’ll see this in the manifesto.”
An Instagram post from Audrey Hale, using the name Aiden, to a friend shortly before the filming of The Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023. (Fox news)
Nashville Metro Police Chief John Drake said investigators had not immediately determined a motive, but believed that Hale, a former student, attacked the school and her affiliated church. The killer was studying previous mass killings while planning the attack, he said.
This is another common trait of mass murderers, Ramsland said.
“They study other mission-based killers to learn strategies and avoid mistakes as they pursue maximum impact,” she told Fox News Digital.
Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale, 28, pictured in a driver’s license photo and school surveillance video released by the Nashville Police Department. Hale killed three 9-year-olds and three adults at a private school connected to a church. (Nashville Metro Police)
Hale had no criminal record, but was being treated by a doctor for an unspecified emotional disorder, according to police. In addition to the manifest they found in Hale’s car outside the school, they found self-portraits wearing the same outfit worn during the attack and maps of the school, marking the entry points.
In a message sent to a friend the morning of the shooting, the killer warned, “I plan to die today” and “You’ll probably hear about me on the news.”
After searching the suspect’s home, police said they found journals about other school shootings and notes about firearms training. They also found two “memoirs” and other evidence that the killer planned the attack well in advance.
The home of alleged Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale is boarded up in Nashville on March 28, 2023. Hale was killed by police after he shot three adults and three children inside the school. (KR/Mega for Fox News Digital)
According to Kelly, Hale likely dehumanized and objectified the victims during the plot.
“You’re talking about the murder of small children and the murder of some adults and anyone who could have been killed,” Kelly said. “That was all OK for (Hale), because this is what had to happen to get this manifesto out. … That’s pretty delusional, and (Hale) was a sick person.”
Read back the command (Mobile users go here)
Still, there were “no glaring warning signs,” he said.
“Maybe after they release more, we’ll say, ‘Hey, there’s a red flag there,'” he said. “But I don’t see them yet.”
According to the website, The Covenant School opened in 2001 as part of the Covenant Presbyterian Church and served children from pre-K through sixth grade.
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The 9-year-old victims included the pastor’s daughter, Hallie Scruggs, and Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney. Police identified the adults as 60-year-old school principal Katherine Koonce, Cynthia Peak, 61, and Mike Hill, 61.
The gunman brought “considerable ammunition” and three weapons to the attack. Within 15 minutes, officers killed Hale at a second-story window.
Michael Ruiz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to michael.ruiz@fox.com and on Twitter: @mikerreports
