Nashville school shooting: Transgender killer who murdered three kids was ex-student who made ‘manifesto’ and maps of building
A 28-year-old, who identified as transgender, has shot dead three children aged nine and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee.
Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who was once a student there, was killed by police after a confrontation with officers following the attack at the Covenant School.
Police said the “lone zealot”, who lived in Nashville, was armed with two assault-type weapons, and a handgun.
Hale had a manifesto and detailed maps of the school, and entered the building by shooting through a door before the killings.
It was also revealed the attacker identified as transgender.
A child cries on the bus leaving the Covenant School, following a mass shooting
Pic: Metro Nashville Police Department
Police chief John Drake said: “We have a manifesto. We have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this day, the actual incident. We have a map drawn out about how this was all going to take place.”
The six victims have been named as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged nine, 61-year-olds Cynthia Peak and Mike Hill, and 60-year-old Katherine Koonce who was the school’s headteacher.
Headteacher Katherine Koonce was among the six victims. Pic: The Covenant School
Mike Hill was also shot dead. Pic: Facebook
Officers started receiving reports of an attack at 10.13am (4.13pm UK time) and as police began clearing the ground floor of the school they heard gunfire coming from the second floor.
Two officers from a five-member team opened fire in response and fatally shot the suspect at 10.27am (4.27pm).
The three children, who were all students, were pronounced dead after they arrived at hospital.
The female attacker died after being “engaged by” officers, police said in a Twitter post.
A possible motive for Hale’s gun violence is not known.
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Nashville shooting ‘sick’, says Biden
Biden condemns ‘sick’ attack
US President Joe Biden called Monday’s attack “sick” and “heartbreaking”.
He said the US needs to do more to protect schools and he called on the Senate to pass the assault weapons ban – which would criminalise the knowing sale, manufacture, transfer, possession or importation of many types of semi-automatic weapons and large-capacity magazines.
No one else was shot in the assault at the school, which teaches students up to sixth grade (around 12 years old).
A police officer at the scene
So far this year, there have been 89 US school shootings – defined as when a gun is fired on school property.
In 2022, there were 303 such incidents, the highest of any year in the K-12 school shooting database, which goes back to 1970.
Read more:
US mass shootings
Texas school shooting
Missouri school shooting
Children from the Covenant School hold hands as they are taken to another area to be reunited with their parents
Other pupils walked to safety, holding hands as they left their school surrounded by police cars, to a nearby church where they were reunited with their parents.
Officers with rifles, heavy vests and helmets could be seen walking through the school car park and around the perimeter of the building.
Helicopter footage also showed the officers looking around a wooded area between the campus and a nearby road.
Police said no officers were deployed to the school at the time of the shooting because it is a church-run school.
Nashville mayor John Cooper thanked emergency services for their response to the attack.
He tweeted: “In a tragic morning, Nashville joined the dreaded, long list of communities to experience a school shooting.
“My heart goes out to the families of the victims. Our entire city stands with you.”
‘Unimaginable tragedy’
Democrat state representative Bob Freeman, whose district includes the Covenant School, called the shooting an “unimaginable tragedy”.
“I live around the corner from Covenant and pass by it often. I have friends who attend both church and school there,” Mr Freeman said.
“I have also visited the church in the past. It tears my heart apart to see this.”
The Covenant School has about 200 students from pre-school to sixth grade and was founded as a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church in 2001, according to the school’s website.
US
‘We will treat them EXACTLY how we treated al Qaeda’ – US carries out another lethal strike in Caribbean
The US military has carried out a fresh strike on what it claims are drug smugglers in the Caribbean Sea – as tensions with Venezuela remain high.
Secretary for War Pete Hegseth announced the strike on Saturday, claiming the vessel was operated by a US-designated terrorist organisation, but did not name which group was targeted.
He said three people were killed.
“This vessel – like EVERY OTHER – was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics,” he said.
It’s at least the 15th strike by the US in the Caribbean or eastern Pacific since early September – operations that Venezuela has said amount to murder and whose legal justification is unclear.
At least 64 people have now been killed in the strikes.
The rhetoric coming out of the White House, coupled with the presence of American military ships in the region, has raised questions about a possible armed conflict between the US and Venezuela.
American politicians have repeatedly demanded more information from the Trump administration about the legal basis for the strikes, as well as more details about the cartels they have allegedly targeted.
“These narco-terrorists are bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans at home – and they will not succeed,” Mr Hegseth said on Saturday.
“The Department will treat them EXACTLY how we treated Al-Qaeda. We will continue to track them, map them, hunt them, and kill them.”
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Venezuela claims Trump creating ‘fables’ to justify ‘war’
Read more:
Is Trump preparing to go to war with Venezuela?
Satellite images show US military edging closer to Venezuela
President Donald Trump has accused Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro of leading an organised crime gang – without providing evidence – and declined to answer when questioned if the CIA has the authority to assassinate him.
In return, the Venezuelan leader has accused Mr Trump of seeking regime change and of “fabricating a new eternal war” against his country, as he appealed to the American people for peace.
A number of US navy vessels are in the region and the USS Gerald R Ford aircraft carrier – the largest warship in the world – is also moving closer to Venezuela as speculation persists about possible further military action.
US
Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney apologises to Donald Trump over anti-tariff advert featuring Ronald Reagan
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has apologised to Donald Trump over an anti-tariff advert featuring a clip of Ronald Reagan.
Speaking at the Asia-Pacific summit in South Korea, he also said he had reviewed the commercial and told Ontario Premier Doug Ford not to air it.
“I did apologise to the president,” Mr Carney said on Saturday, confirming earlier comments made by the US president on Friday.
“I told [Doug] Ford I did not want to go forward with the ad,” he added.
The private conversation with Mr Trump happened at a dinner hosted by South Korea’s president on Wednesday.
The commercial, commissioned by Mr Ford, included a quote from Republican former president Ronald Reagan saying that tariffs cause trade wars and economic disaster.
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TV advert deepens trade rift between Trump and Canada
Mr Trump said the advert was misleading and, in response, announced that he was increasing tariffs on goods from Canada and halting trade talks with Canada.
In a post on Truth Social, he wrote: “Because of their serious misrepresentation of the facts, and hostile act, I am increasing the Tariff on Canada by 10% over and above what they are paying now.”
It prompted the Ontario premier to pull the ad.
On Friday, the US president expressed his irritation at the advert but also told reporters he had accepted Mr Carney’s apology.
“I like him [Carney] a lot but what they did was wrong,” he said.
“He apologised for what they did with the commercial because it was a false commercial.”
But, critically, he added that the US and Canada will not restart trade talks.
Mr Ford has been a vocal critic of the Trump administration’s tariffs and trade policies, which are hurting Ontario’s carmakers and steel industry.
Read more from Sky News:
Trump says China tariffs will be cut
How tariffs would hit UK film sector
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The ad by the Ontario government has a voiceover of Ronald Reagan criticising tariffs on foreign goods while saying they cause job losses and trade wars.
The video uses five complete sentences from a five-minute weekly address recorded in 1987, but edited together out of order.
The ad does not mention that the former US president was explaining that tariffs imposed on Japan by his administration should be seen as a sadly unavoidable exception to his basic belief in free trade as the key to prosperity.
Meanwhile, Mr Carney said his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday were a turning point in relations after years of tensions.
He also met Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the sidelines of the summit.
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