Nashville authorities are «aware» of the alleged leak of parts of the highly anticipated «manifesto» of Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, found in the car where the killer shot and killed three children, ages 9 and 3 adults in March.
In what appear to be crime scene photographs of the killer’s handwritten notes, the unverified documents would explain why police were quick to label the massacre «calculated and planned.»
«We are aware of that claim,» a city police spokeswoman told News21USA News Digital on Monday. However, she said it was too early to confirm the authenticity of the documents and that authorities were investigating.
Nashville police said they recovered documents in 28-year-old Hale’s car after police killed the suspect on the second floor of the school. However, they have been fighting in court to keep the manifesto from being made public, as has a group of school parents.
NASHVILLE KILLER AUDREY HALE SLEEP WITH SCHOOL SHOOTING DIARIES UNDER HER BED, COURT DOCUMENTS REVEAL
Surveillance cameras recorded Covenant school shooter Audrey Hale walking past the Children’s Ministry desk during a rampage that killed six people before police shot the attacker dead. (Twitter @MNPDNashville)
The National Police Association is involved in a court battle with the Nashville Police Department demanding that the manifesto be made public. Officials told News21USA News Digital that his case is still pending and the documents have not appeared in court.
«I think it highlights the importance of getting the information out as soon as possible,» said Doug Pierce, the Tennessee attorney representing the NPA in the case, who called the potential leak a «bombshell» but said he could not confirm the documents. .
Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale is seen on surveillance footage driving into the school parking lot. A similar parking lot can be seen in the background of supposedly leaked photos of Hale’s manifesto. (Twitter @MNPDNashville)
More information is expected to come out if he is successful in court.
«What was requested would include more than just these three pages,» he told News21USA News Digital.
Demand has slowed for months. An appeals court is currently expected to rule on whether Hale’s parents and the school have the right to intervene. There is no clear timeline for making a decision on publishing the full manifesto.
«I could go on,» Pierce said. «It could be years before we figure it all out.»
Hale, who identified himself as a man named AIden but whom police describe as a transgender woman, kept more than 20 diaries, court documents revealed earlier this year, and the three allegedly leaked pages would only represent a fragment of the writings. of the murderer.
NASHVILLE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL SHOOTING TIMELINE: AUDREY HALE’S 14 MINUTES OF CHAOS
In addition to the manifesto, Hale made hand-drawn maps and diagrams of the school, with possible entry points and illustrations showing a shooter wearing the same suit worn during the murders, police said.
Police previously released surveillance video showing the heroic acts of responding officers as they stormed the building and neutralized Hale in front of a second-story window, from where the killer was actively shooting.
AUDREY HALE, THE NASHVILLE SCHOOL SHOOTER: WHO IS A 28-YEAR-OLD TRANSGENDER EX-STUDENT WHO OPENED FIRE AT SCHOOL
According to its website, Covenant School opened its doors in 2001 as part of Covenant Presbyterian Church and served children from preschool through sixth grade.
Among the child victims were the pastor’s daughter, Hallie Scruggs, as well as Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney. Police identified the adults as 60-year-old Katherine Koonce, the school’s principal, 61-year-old Cynthia Peak, and 61-year-old Mike Hill.
Bodycam footage shows Nashville Police Department officers responding to Covenant School in Nashville after 28-year-old Audrey Hale opened fire. (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department)
AUDREY HALE POLICE BODYCAMS LAUNCHED
Court records suggested Hale had no criminal history in Metro Nashville or Davidson County.
Researchers served a search warrant at the Hale house about three miles from the church and school.
The murderer slept with diaries in others. school shootings under his bed at his parents’ house. Police confiscated the diaries and a cache of documents and electronic devices, court documents reveal. Hale also left a suicide note on a desk under one of several laptops that police recovered near a list of passwords in her bedroom.
Hale was an artist who attended Nossi College of Art and Design.
Audrey Hale was identified by police as the shooter who opened fire at Covenant School, killing six people.
The killer was also seeing a doctor due to emotional distress and had legally purchased the seven guns at five stores before the attack, police said.
Hale’s parents didn’t know the school shooter owned guns after allegedly selling the only one they knew of, Chief John Drake said in March.
«They were under the impression that when she sold the gun, she no longer had it,» he said. «It turned out that she was hiding several weapons inside the house.»
However, Hale arrived around 10:15 a.m. Monday with three guns, broke down a side door and went on a rampage inside.
When Hale broke in, the first victim, Hill, suffered fatal gunshot wounds in the process. According to city officials, Koonce heard the first gunshots while on a Zoom call, hung up and confronted the gunman. Police found her dead in the hallway outside her office.
ALL LATEST NEWS AND UPDATES, NEWS HEADLINES, LATEST USA NEWS, LATEST US NEWS, US NEWS LIVE ON NEWS21USA
Drake said investigators had not immediately determined a motive but believed Hale, a former student, had attacked the school and its affiliated church.
Before 10:30 a.m., responding officers had shot and killed the killer on the second floor.
