Nashville authorities released 911 calls Thursday, following a mass shooting at The Covenant School Monday morning that left six people dead.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, police said that 28-year-old Audrey (Aiden) Hale brought three guns and “significant ammunition” into the school after breaking into a side door at around 10:13 a.m.
Officers with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department responded within 14 minutes of the first 911 call and killed Hale on the second floor of the school after Hale “engaged” with them.
Police said Hale shot and killed three children and three adults. The victims have been identified as:
- Hallie Scruggs, 9
- William Kinney, 9
- Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9
- Cynthia Peak, 61
- Mike Hill, 61
- Dr. Katherine Koonce, 60
The Tennesseean reports that the chilling 911 calls were made by three different callers, including someone who hid children inside the closet of an Art class.
“It sounds like somebody is shooting guns…..I’m hearing more shots; please hurry.”
Another caller said he was on the second floor, adding that he thought the shooter was on the same floor.
“I’m on the second floor in a room. I think the shooter is on the second floor.”
The third caller told the 911 dispatcher that he was with a group of people, including children, who were walking away from the school and to a main road near the campus.
DailyMail reports that Hale’s friend, Averianna Patton, called 911 after Hale sent text messages about wanting to die. Patton initially contacted someone at a suicide prevention hotline, who directed her to call 911.
“I’m just trying to see if anybody can help. I just don’t want it on my conscience,” Patton told a 911 dispatcher.
“If somebody can go check on her – the only thing I have is her Instagram. Can I give you her Instagram so y’all can find her or track her that way?”
Although the dispatcher said they needed an address or phone to track Hale down, the shooter was at the school minutes after Patton’s call, Fox 17 reports.
Here's just some of the call Averianna Patton (former teammate of the shooter) made to the non-emergency number minutes before the shooting. @FOXNashville pic.twitter.com/KKmZZUz6Rt
— Amanda Chin (@amandachintv) March 29, 2023
Hale attended the school in 2005 and 2006, according to former headmaster Bill Campbell, who told NBC he remembers Hale as a third and fourth grader. He said his collected annual does not show Hale at the school as a fifth grader.
The school has about 200 students in grades pre-K through 6.
A video released by police shows Hale driving into the school parking lot, then blasting open a side door before roaming abandoned hallways and entering an unlocked office and other doors.
Metro police identified the two officers who opened fire as four-year veteran Rex Englebert and nine-year veteran Michael Collazo.
“They heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers,” Nashville police spokesperson Don Aaron said.
“The police department response was swift.”
Hale had recently begun to use the name Aiden and male pronouns.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Top L to R: Koonce, Peak & Hill/Facebook, Handouts; Lower L to R: Evelyn, Willliam & Hallie/Handout, GoFundMe, Facebook]
