Explained: Why Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale is an extremely rare assailant

The suspect who killed six people, including three students under the age of nine, at a Christian school in Nashville, US was being identified differently over the course of reportage. Initially, when news of the shooting broke, the suspect was described as a young female teenager. Later, the narration changed and the suspect was identified as a 28-year-old woman. But investigators later found that Audrey Hale, the 28-year-old suspect, identified as a transgender male on LinkedIn.

This puts Audrey Hale into a category of exceptions since data shows that shootings involving a suspect who identifies as transgender or gender-nonconforming are extremely rare. The other assailant who can be put in the same category is the 22-year-old shooter who killed five people in a gay nightclub in Colorado Springs last November and who reportedly is non-binary.

Audrey Hale had supposedly made elaborate plans before carrying out the shooting. John Drake, chief of Police at the Metro Nashville Police Department, said that Hale legally purchased seven firearms, even though the 28-year-old was receiving treatment for an ‘emotional disorder’ and was unfit to ‘own weapons’.

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"Her parents felt she should not own weapons," said Drake, adding that the shooter "had been hiding several weapons within the house." They had even sold the lone weapon they thought Hale owned.

But Hale managed to hide the weapons from parents and went on to carry out thefatal shooting at a US school, leaving parents devastated and fearful of sending their kids to school.

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

Confusion over identifying Hale

Media houses found themselves confused as they didn't know what to call the shooter, just like the officials. The first reaction to a mass shooting is to assume that the shooter is cis male, that is one who still identifies as the sex they were assigned at birth. Data shows that a majority of shootings in the US have been committed by men. Violence Project (TVP) data shows that men have carried out more than 97 per cent of all public mass shootings, The Guardian reported.

The research group looked at data as far back as 1966 and took into consideration all such shootings where four or more people lost their lives in a shooting at a public place.

The group reported that 190 such incidents have happened in the past 57 years, and of those 185 were carried out by shooters who were assigned male at birth. Only five shooters were assigned female at birth, including Audrey Hale, and even in that, two of them carried out the massacre alongside male partners.

Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also looked at ‘active shooter’ situations, where an individual either kills or tries to kill others in public places, confined and populated areas. The number of such incidents was 277 between 2000 and 2018 alone. Only 12 assailants assigned female at birth were found to be involved in active shooter situations.

Can Audrey Hale's identity affect trans people in the US?

Experts say that even though data proves that the number of trans or gender-nonconforming people perpetrating such crimes is extremely low, far-right groups might seize on the opportunity to push forward with their agenda of culture wars. Charlie Kirk, an extremist affiliated with former president Donald Trump, has already called for a ban on “gender-affirming care for kids”. The concept lets children explore their gender identity without being marginalised or being made to feel like they aren't loved for doing so.

In Tennessee, the state where the Nashville shooting took place, Republican leadership has been leading a movement spread across the US to pass anti-trans legislation. Earlier this month, Tennessee became the first state to place conditions on drag shows, sparking criticism from several quarters. The law bans drag performances in public places or any location where minors can view them. The measure covers “topless dancers, go-go dancers, exotic dancers, strippers, male or female impersonators, or similar entertainers”.

Why are men at the forefront of such shootings?

The data proves that men account for most such mass shooting incidents. But why? Experts don't seem to have a definitive answer for that. “Men perpetrate over 90 per cent of homicides worldwide,” TVP’s Jillian Peterson said. “Explanations for this focus on a host of biological, social, economic and cultural factors, including societal expectations and gender roles. When it comes to mass shootings, perpetrators often see themselves in previous perpetrators and identify with them, which can contribute to copycat shootings.”

Another expert, Dr Jason Silva, who has delved into the small number of mass shooters who were assigned female at birth, said there is a lack of data to understand why most such shooters are cis male. He cites two theories for this -- Are men predominantly biologically driven toward aggression because of testosterone? Or, does our culture and society nurture them into being more violent?

He said either one can be the case, but there is no way to know which one it is.

(With inputs from agencies)

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