Covenant School Shooting parents say final police report vindicates their desire to keep the shooter’s writings from public release

Security camera footage of Covenant shooter Audrey Hale (Photo by MNPS)

After two years of investigations, the Metro Nashville Police Department says Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale was motivated by notoriety.

That’s among the findings in a 48-page report police released Wednesday morning on the Covenant School Shooting.  Police say the 28-year-old shooter was mentally sane when she entered the Nashville private school she attended as a child and opened fire killing 9-year-old students Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney along with school staff members Cynthia Peak, Katherine Koonce, and Mike Hill.

Covenant School shooting victims (Photos by MNPS)

Responding police officers killed Hale a short time later.

The report claims Hale intentionally left behind materials to be found, analyzed, and publicly released and investigators say she wanted books, documentaries, and movies to be made about her. They also say she hoped her actions would show future shooters how they could succeed with proper planning.

“Among the material Hale left behind is her detailed plan to commit carnage in a school, with timelines, diagrams, etc. It is known that Hale, and other mass shooters, studied material from Columbine High School prior to committing their attacks. Recognizing the notoriety motive previously mentioned, it is this police department’s concerted belief that Hale’s specific action plan, if ever made public, would be used by future potential mass murderers in the United States or anywhere in the world to attack and kill innocent persons, including school children,” said MNPS in a statement.

Family members of Covenant shooting victims and survivors held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to thank investigators for their work and to reaffirm their reasons to oppose releasing Hale’s writings to the public.

Audrey Hale (Photo by MNPS)

A group including the Tennessee Star and the Tennessee Firearms Association filed suit hoping to compel MNPS and the FBI to release Hale’s full writings. Those legal efforts have been blocked thus far.

Covenant parent Stefan Banks read a statement from the nearly 100 families who opposed the release of Hale’s writings, claiming the final police report validates their opposition.

“As it’s clear to all from the report, materials left behind by past killers empowered the Covenant shooter to murder six beautiful people and terrorize hundreds more that day,” said Banks. “The conclusion of this investigation establishes beyond a doubt that our legal battle against the public releases of the shooter’s evil material is just, appropriate, and should silence any critics of our efforts.”

“Notoriety is what she wanted.  Don’t indulge this killer in her desire for glory and notoriety for her crimes.”

Other findings in the report

The police report also said there are no known prior interactions between Hale and her victims and investigators say she “bore no grudge against the school or staff,” choosing the school as a target because she considered it a “soft target” that would bring notoriety.  The report also determined that Hale felt if she had to die somewhere it should be a place that made her happy and she had fond memories of her time at Covenant.

“Hale considered these years the happiest of her childhood. She felt safe and accepted at The Covenant and made friends with other students. She considered her family life during this time as happy, with a positive relationship with both of her parents and her brother. During this time, she showed a proclivity for art, which her parents and teachers remarked was advanced for a child her age. Hale denied suffering any emotional or physical abuse during this period, and no records have been found to counteract her claims,” wrote police in the report.

Additionally, Police determined that no one provided Hale with material support or assistance in the attack. The gun dealers that sold her firearms conducted all necessary background checks that only would have covered her criminal history and not her history of struggles with mental health.