Shooter kills 6 including 3 students in Nashville school; drew maps, surveyed area before massacre

A 28-year-old former student of a private Christian school in the US state of Nashville, Tennessee, shot dead 6 people at the school on March 27.

Among the dead included three students aged 9 and under, and three staff members, all above 60 years.

The assailant opened fire just after 10 a.m. inside the Covenant School in the affluent Green Hills neighborhood, where preschool through sixth grade students had just begun their final full week of classes before Easter break, in the most recent instance of gun violence that has devastated American families and communities.

According to John Drake, the chief of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department, the shooter, Audrey E. Hale, had entered the building through a side door and was armed with two assault-style weapons and a handgun. He then went to the second floor and fired shots before being killed by the police. The assailant, according to Chief Drake, was "once a student" at the school.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, the assailant's gender identity was misunderstood. Audrey Hale, whom Chief Drake claimed to have identified as transgender, was identified as the shooter. Officials referred to the shooter as "she" and "her," but a recent social media post and LinkedIn profile indicate that the shooter appears to be male.

The police in Nashville distinguished the six casualties as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, every one of the 9, and the grown-ups as Cynthia Pinnacle, 61, a substitute educator; Mike Hill, a 61-year-old keeper; also, Katherine Koonce, 60. According to the school's website, Dr. Koonce was the head of the school. According to a biography that was made available online by Chad Scruggs' former church in Dallas, Hallie Scruggs was the daughter of the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church, Chad Scruggs. The elementary school is connected to Covenant Presbyterian.

Boss Drake said it was too soon to examine a potential rationale in the shooting, however he affirmed that the assault was focused on. Chief Drake stated that the authorities were looking over writings and had contacted the shooter's father.

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