Explained | Who is Audrey Hale, the shooter who killed six at Nashville school

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) have identified the 28-year-old shooter who mercilessly killed six people, including three children, at a school in Nashville.

The assailant was identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a trans person and an alumnus of The Covenant School, a Christian academy.

According to the police, on Monday morning, Hale, armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun, entered the school from a side entrance and allegedly fired multiple shots through the entrance as he was advancing through the building.

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After 14 minutes of the onslaught, Hale was later shot dead by two cops at 10.27 am (local time).

Chief of Police John Drake said that they found a manifesto and maps of the school which had extensive details on entry-exit points and surveillance.

The suspect was "prepared for a confrontation with law enforcement," the police chief told reporters.

Speaking to NBC News, Drake said that the school shooter was likely plotting a broader attack, as the manifesto "indicates that there was going to be shootings at multiple locations, and the school was one of them."

As horrifying details of the school violence emerge and police try to find the motive, here’s what it has been revealed about the killer.

Who was Audrey Elizabeth Hale?

According to police, Hale identified as a trans person. The shooter was biologically a woman but identified as a man. In such cases, a person is referred to with they/them/their pronouns.

Hale worked as a commercial illustrator and graphic designer who posted their creations online. They once worked on a children’s book about a support dog, according to a LinkedIn page.

Hale attended Nossi College of Art in Nashville, and most recently worked part-time as a grocery shopper for Shipt, according to LinkedIn.On their website, Hale described themselves as enjoying “binging on video games, watching movies, and playing sports.”

When Chief of Police John Drake was asked whether Hale’s identity was the motive behind the killing, he said, “There is some theory to that, we’re investigating all the leads.”

He later told NBC News that investigators believed that the shooting stemmed from "some resentment" Hale had "for having to go to that school" when they were younger.

However, he clarified that police are yet to find a definitive motive, and their initial assessment of Hale’s identity could not be the sole reason.

What kind of weapons did Hale use?

According to police, Hale was armed with an AR-style rifle, an AR-style pistol, and a handgun. He used the guns to shoot through a locked side entrance to the school.

“Two of the guns were obtained legally, locally here,” Drake said.

How did Hale’s family react?

US media reported that the shooter’s mother, Norma Fort Hale, works at at The Village Chapel, a Nashville church.

She had previously posted on social media after school shootings and called for more gun control.

She even shared links on Facebook to a Sandy Hook Promise petition to “keep guns out of schools,” calling the pledge “so important,” according to the Independent newspaper.

Speaking to ABC News reporter, she said, “It’s very difficult now, we ask for privacy. I really can’t talk right now, I think I lost my daughter today.”

The police are questioning the shooter's father.

What didthe neighbours and family members say?

Hours after the shooting, police searched a home just three miles away from the school. A neighbour, Sandy Durham, who is also a family friend of the Hales, told The Daily Beast that the ATF were there “to see what was going on next door [at the Hale house].”

“I do know Audrey, I’ve known her since she was a baby. I had just gotten out of the shower when all of this started happening. I didn’t really know anything more than that. Something was going on next door. It’s just tragic for everybody. The sweet children that were hurt, killed, the adults. All of it,” she was quoted as saying.

Asked if there were any warning signs about Hale, Durham responded, “Never. She was very sweet. I don’t know what happened. It’s very scary.”

Another neighbour described Hale as a “normal, nice person. Maybe a little quiet.”

“If I had to imagine, Audrey’s parents are probably just as shocked as everybody in the neighbourhood is… It just doesn’t seem real,” Sean, who goes by his first name told The Daily beast.

He said that he could not believe that Hale was capable of harming anyone and that their family never even had access to a gun before.

“They just don’t seem like the family that, like, is around guns. They’re not talking about going to a gun range or they’re not going hunting.”

However, asource close to the Hale family in an interview to The Daily Beast described the shooter as an "autistic, but high-functioning" individual. The identity of the source was not revealed as they wanted toavoid additional family strife.

What will happen next?

The Metro Nashville Police Department is currently probing the shooting incident, with assistance from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

(With inputs from agencies)

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