Police Say The Shooter At Tennessee School Has Emotional Disorders And Seven Guns

Nashville police officers at Covant School. (Twitter/@MNPDNashville)

JAKARTA - The police chief said the former student at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee who killed three children aged 9 and three adults in a shooting, was under medical care for emotional disturbances and had a gun collection.

The new details about the known perpetrator, identified as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, came hours after police released a chilling video showing officers storming Covenant School in the midst of Monday's rampage, searching room after room before confronting and shooting Hale.

Authorities said they were still trying to determine a motive as detectives examined writings and other evidence left by Hale.

Hale was armed with two assault-style weapons and a pistol, which is the latest in a series of mass shootings in the US that have turned schools into kill zones, adding length to the national debate over gun rights and regulation.

The three guns used on Monday were among seven firearms Hale legally purchased in recent years from five stores in the Nashville area, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters on Tuesday.

Hale fired a number of rounds inside the Covenant Church/School building. She was armed with these 3 guns and significant ammunition. pic.twitter.com/3LYOU2r0sh

— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 28, 2023

Hale's parents didn't know their son owned multiple guns, mistakenly thinking Hale only had one, then selling it, Drake explained.

The police chief added that his mother and father felt Hale should not own any weapons due to mental health issues.

The mother, when she saw Hale leave the house with the red bag Monday morning, had asked what was in the bag, Drake said.

Hale "is being treated, by doctors, for emotional disturbance," the police chief told reporters at a news conference, without elaborating.

Under Tennessee law, mental illness is not a reason for police to seize a gun unless a person is found by a court to be mentally incompetent, "judicially transferred to a mental institution," or placed under custody "because of mental disability."

In addition, Tennessee prohibits the sale of firearms to persons who are determined by a court or other legal authority to be a danger to themselves or others, or to be incapable of minding their own affairs due to mental illness. However, just being under a doctor's care does not in itself meet that threshold.

Drake said Hale appeared to have had weapons training. Hale opened fire on the officers from the second floor of the school as they arrived in the squad car, standing with her back to the large windows to avoid being targeted.

Hale left behind a detailed map of the school showing entry points, as well as what Drake described as a "manifesto" indicating he may have planned to shoot at another location.

On Monday, Drake said Hale identified as transgender and said investigators believed the suspect harbored "resentment about having to attend Covenant School as a child."

The police chief declined to elaborate and did not say what role Hale's gender identity, educational background, or social or religious dynamics might have played. Investigators "have no motive at this time," he said Tuesday.