Mass shooting at Nashville Christian elementary school

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I imagine it must have not been easy being transgender in a christian school, Perhaps years of bullying from staff and students tipped Audrey over the scales.
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I’m sure Fox News is having a field day with the whole transgender angle. I hate to give them credit for anything, but this does make “the left” look bad.

It is possible, however, if the shooter was indeed trans, that it could have been in retaliation for the anti-drag law signed last month.

In the wake of Monday’s shooting at Nashville’s Covenant School, which left at least three children and three adults dead, Tennessee representative Andy Ogles, who represents the school’s district, issued a statement, writing, in part: “My family and I are devastated by the tragedy that took place at The Covenant School in Nashville this morning. We are sending our thoughts and prayers to the families of those lost. As a father of three, I am utterly heartbroken by this senseless act of of violence.” Obviously, Republican calls for “thoughts and prayers” have long been a meaningless offering in light of the party’s consistent refusal to actually do anything to stop gun violence. But Ogles’s use of the phrase, in addition to his claim of being both “devastated” and “heartbroken,” rings even more hollow in light of his undeniable celebration of killing machines.

Take a look at the Christmas portrait Ogles chose to pose for, and disseminate, in 2021. It features his entire family, save for the very youngest, posing in front of a tree holding assault-style rifles. As The Washington Post noted at the time, Ogles, who was then the mayor of Maury County, Tennessee, posted the photo alongside the caption, “The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference — they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good,” a quote often dubiously attributed to George Washington

I imagine it must have not been easy being transgender in a christian school, Perhaps years of bullying from staff and students tipped Audrey over the scales.

Bill Campbell, a headmaster of The Covenant School from 2004 to 2008, said that he remembers Hale as third-grader at the school in 2005 and a fourth-grader in 2006.

“I’ve looked back in my annuals, and I do remember her as a former student,” Campbell said. “She was just one of our young ladies.”

No no no, haven't you seen the news? Their gun rights make them safer!

I often felt like killing my school bullies in my 20s however fortunately I grew out of those thoughts (not that I would have ever acted on them).

Sigh... Currently showing as "Similar Topics" at the foot of this page:



Apparently these events are acceptable to those with the power to make a change.
Why else would they keep on happening?
And those are for a couple of months in 2023 only.

The Nashville school shooter warned that "something bad is about to happen" in messages to a former middle school basketball teammate before opening fire Monday at The Covenant School.

Averianna Patton said she saw the Instagram messages at 9:57 a.m. Monday, less than 20 minutes before police said they received calls about a shooter at the private Christian school.

"This is my last goodbye. I love you. See you again in another life," wrote Audrey Hale, the person police identified as the shooter.

Hale is transgender, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said. In the first message sent to Patton, Hale signed it as "Audrey (Aiden)."

Patton responded to the message, writing: "Audrey! You have so much more life to live. I pray God keeps and covers you."

In subsequent messages, Hale talked about not wanting to live anymore and said that "my family doesn't know what I'm about to do."

"One day this will make more sense," Hale wrote. "I've left more than enough evidence behind."

Hale then warned: "But something bad is about to happen. Forgive me."

Patton, of Nashville, attended Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School with Hale. She said the messages were alarming and she sent them to her father and asked if she should contact someone.

"He text back, 'YES' in all caps. So after that, that's when I started making calls," she told NBC's "Nightly News."

The first call she said she made was to the suicide prevention hotline, which instructed her to contact the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office. The office told her to call a non-emergency number.

Patton said she was told someone would come out to her home. By the time they showed up hours later, she had already left for a meeting. Patton later learned that Hale was responsible for the shooting

I'm trying to still understand ... Just to learn that I received a message before, it's just like 'Wow,'" she said. "Just pray, just pray."

Patton said the last time she saw Hale was a few weeks ago at a painting event to celebrate a mutual friend who died in a car crash. Nothing about Hale seemed amiss, Patton said.

She's now trying to cope with what happened. "I'm speechless," she said.

Nashville police have released surveillance video showing the shooter arriving at a private Christian school before unleashing terror in an attack that left six people, including three children, dead Monday.

In the edited footage, the shooter, identified by police as Audrey Hale, 28, can be seen driving a Honda Fit to The Covenant School's campus on Burton Hills Boulevard shortly before 10 a.m., the Nashville Police Department said in a statement accompanying the video's release Monday.

Around 10 minutes later, the surveillance video from inside the school captures the glass in a set of doors shattering before the shooter, wearing a vest, camouflage pants and a red baseball cap turned backward, climbs through one of the door frames.

A rifle can be seen slung over one of the shooter's shoulder's in the video, which runs just over 2 minutes long and has no audio. The shooter can then be seen entering different rooms and walking past a children's ministry door with a second rifle raised.

Body camera footage released Tuesday morning by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shows the moment police officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo confronted and killed the shooter at The Covenant School who killed six people, including three 9 year olds.

After searching classrooms and an office on the first floor, the officers rush up a stairwell and move down two long hallways before confronting shooter Audrey Hale, 28, who stands under a large window in what appears to be an atrium.

Engelbert's body camera footage shows him confronting the shooter from a corner diagonally across from the window.

Someone yells, “reloading,” and Engelbert immediately shoots multiple rounds toward the shooter.

The shooter is seen collapsing to the ground.

Someone yells, "clear."

Collazo yells, "move, move," and he and at least one other officer positioned nearby then move closer to the shooter, with Engelbert following behind.

As they approach the shooter, Collazo warns, "watch out, watch out."

Collazo then fires multiple rounds at the shooter before yelling, "stop moving, stop moving."

Another officer yells, “get your hand away from the gun.”

The video ends just after Collazo yells, "suspect down, suspect down."

Part of the shooter’s body is blurred on the footage, though it is visible on the ground. A broken window is also visible behind them.

A source close to the Hale family told The Daily Beast on Monday night that Hale was autistic “but high-functioning.”

“And relatively recently announced she was transgender, identifying as he/him,” the source said, asking to remain unnamed so as to avoid additional family strife.

LinkedIn profile says Audrey Hale started a freelance illustration and graphic design business last year after attending Nossi College of Art & Design in Madison, Tennessee.

In a statement, the college confirmed Hale was a 2022 graduate but clarified Hale did not work for the college, as social media profiles suggested. “While at our school, she was a talented artist and a good student. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family, to the victims and their families and to our city,” the school’s president and CEO Cyrus Vatandoost said.

Richard Cook, who taught Hale at Nossi in the summer of 2015, told The Daily Beast that the graphic design student “would always do more work than asked” and never had any problems with other students.

Hale “was a good student,” Cook said. “[Hale] was an overachiever, from what I remember. If I asked her for 20 thumbnail drawings, [Hale] did 40.”

The graphic design teacher said that Hale was “on the spectrum” and that he had spoken with their mother at least once during the summer session. At the end of the summer, Hale’s mother took to Facebook to post about her daughter’s time at Nossi—and even mentioned Cook.

“So, Audrey wrote ‘thank you’ notes to all her professors at the end of her summer semester,” Normal Fort Hale wrote in an August 2015 post. “These were some of her words to Mr. Cook, who lost his son in a car accident almost a year ago. ‘Don’t ever let anything or anyone steal your joy. You have a reason and a purpose to be here.’ Amazing, Dre. I love you.”

Richard Cook, who taught Hale at Nossi in the summer of 2015, told The Daily Beast that the graphic design student “would always do more work than asked” and never had any problems with other students.

Hale “was a good student,” Cook said. “[Hale] was an overachiever, from what I remember. If I asked her for 20 thumbnail drawings, [Hale] did 40.”

The graphic design teacher said that Hale was “on the spectrum” and that he had spoken with their mother at least once during the summer session. At the end of the summer, Hale’s mother took to Facebook to post about her daughter’s time at Nossi—and even mentioned Cook.

“So, Audrey wrote ‘thank you’ notes to all her professors at the end of her summer semester,” Normal Fort Hale wrote in an August 2015 post. “These were some of her words to Mr. Cook, who lost his son in a car accident almost a year ago. ‘Don’t ever let anything or anyone steal your joy. You have a reason and a purpose to be here.’ Amazing, Dre. I love you.”

In a press conference Tuesday afternoon, MNPD Chief John Drake said Audrey Hale, the shooter who shot and killed three 9-year-olds and three school staff members, told reporters Hale was under doctor’s care for an emotional disorder.

Drake said Hale left home on Monday morning with a red bag, according to the parents. They told detectives that they noticed the bag but did not think to ask about it.

Police shared photos of the three guns Hale was armed with during the shooting. Two of them were AR-style weapons - one was a rifle and the other a pistol. A handgun was the third gun used in the shooting.

Detectives learned that Hale bought seven weapons at five different stores, and the guns were purchased legally and locally, according to Drake. He said the suspect also had significant ammunition on-hand, firing a number of rounds.

The parents did not think Audrey Hale should own a weapon, Drake said.

MTG has gone of the rails regarding the shooting. She immediately made anti-trans and pro-2A tweets.