Nashville police seek for clues after newest US faculty taking pictures | Gun Violence Information

Investigators are looking for clues to higher perceive the motive behind the most recent faculty taking pictures in america, which left three youngsters and three adults useless at a non-public Christian main faculty in Nashville, Tennessee.

Police on Tuesday have been poring over what they described as a “manifesto” left by the attacker following the mass taking pictures on the Covenant Faculty within the metropolis’s leafy Inexperienced Hills neighborhood.

They recognized the assailant as 28-year-old former scholar on the faculty Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

Authorities described the attacker as a lady, though a police official stated she “recognized” as transgender, with out elaborating.

Among the many different proof being assessed on Tuesday have been writings by Hale and an in depth, hand-drawn map of the varsity displaying numerous entry factors, Metro Nashville Police Chief John Drake informed reporters.

He informed NBC Information the proof “signifies there was going to be shootings at a number of areas and that the varsity was certainly one of them”.

He added that the varsity seemed to be particularly focused, however the person victims have been focused at random.

“There’s some perception that there was some resentment for having to go to that faculty,” the police chief stated.

In the meantime, former schoolmate Averianna Patton informed CNN that Hale wrote on Instagram on the morning of the taking pictures.

“Someday, this can make extra sense,” she stated Hale wrote. “I’ve left behind greater than sufficient proof behind. However one thing unhealthy is about to occur.”

Patton stated she referred to as the police to alert them at across the time the assault began.

The youngsters killed have been all 9 years previous, authorities stated. They have been recognized as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney.

The adults who have been fatally shot have been recognized as Mike Hill, 61, a college custodian; Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute trainer; and Katherine Koonce, 60, who was listed on the Covenant web site as “head of college”.

Surveillance footage launched by police confirmed Hale carrying camouflage pants, a black vest over a T-shirt, and a backward purple baseball cap. The assailant is seen taking pictures by way of a glass door to achieve entry to the varsity earlier than stalking the halls.

Police physique digital camera footage confirmed legislation enforcement shifting by way of the constructing earlier than confronting and fatally taking pictures Hale.

Authorities later stated Hale was carrying two assault-style weapons, together with a rifle, as effectively a pistol.

They stated not less than two of the weapons have been purchased legally, including Hale had a number of rounds of ammunition and was “ready for confrontation with legislation enforcement”.

The Covenant Faculty, based in 2001, is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church and has about 200 college students, in line with the varsity’s web site.

The college serves preschool by way of sixth graders and held an active-shooter coaching programme in 2022, native tv station WTVF-TV reported.

The assault marked the ninetieth faculty taking pictures – outlined as any incident wherein a gun is discharged on faculty property – in america this yr, in line with the Ok-12 Faculty Capturing Database, an internet site based by researcher David Riedman.

There have been 303 such incidents within the US in 2022, in line with the database, representing the best annual tally since reporting started in 1970.

Since 2020, the variety of mass shootings yearly within the US has hovered above 600, with 646 recorded in 2022, in line with the Gun Violence Archive database.

As of Tuesday, there had been 130 mass shootings within the US up to now this yr, in line with the tracker, which considers a mass taking pictures any gun assault with 4 or extra victims.

President Joe Biden has described the Nashville faculty taking pictures as “sick” and stated gun violence was “ripping the soul of this nation” as he urged Congress to cross a federal ban on the assault weapons typically utilized in mass shootings.

Nevertheless, regardless of common, high-profile assaults involving assault-style firearms, that are military-style weapons that may be fired quickly, a federal ban has been a political non-starter.

“They should act,” White Home Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated on Monday, referring to US lawmakers. “The time is now.”