Video released Tuesday shows police officers in Nashville, Tenn., entering the school where the actual massacre began, then finding and shooting the attacker. Three 9-year-old students and three school staff were killed before police arrived, reports said Reuters.
Six minutes of footage downloaded from cameras worn by two officers participating in the intervention were edited together. They were released by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department. They show the police in action as they make a class-action search on the ground floor of the school before going upstairs where gunshots begin to be heard.
The footage shows officers running down a hallway — passing what appears to be a victim on the ground — and then down a hallway, where the suspect lies on the ground after being shot.
Police identified the attacker as 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a former Covenant School student.
Investigators said they were looking into a text, which they called a “manifesto,” that Hale left in hopes of finding out what motivated the woman to do what she did.
Police say Hale also had a detailed, hand-drawn map of the school that showed various entry points.
According to Hale’s parents, Hale was treated by a doctor for an “emotional disorder” and legally purchased seven guns from five different stores, including two assault weapons and a handgun, Police Chief John Drake said at a news conference Tuesday. Used in Monday’s attack.
Drake previously said Hale self-identified as transgender and on Tuesday referred to Hale using female pronouns. On a LinkedIn page listing recent jobs in graphic design and food delivery, Hale used male pronouns.
The police chief also said Tuesday that the “message” indicated that Hale planned to carry out attacks elsewhere. He said the Covenant School was singled out for the attack, but the victims were targeted indiscriminately.
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The three children killed were identified as Evelyn Dickhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney. School principal Katherine Koons, 60, school custodian Mike Hill, 61, and substitute teacher Cynthia Peek, 61, were also shot.
Nashville police began receiving calls about the shooter at 10:13 a.m., spokesman Dan Aaron told reporters. The suspect was pronounced dead at 10.27 am.
“The police department’s response was quick,” Aaron said.
The beginning of the Nashville police video shows an officer pulling a gun from his torso.
“Let’s go! I want three!” He yells at the officer as he uses a key to open a door and enters a building where multiple alarms sound.
Officers Rex Engelbert and Michael Collazo — whose body cameras provided the footage — fired multiple shots at Hale. In the video, the attacker can be seen moving after being felled by police bullets, while another officer yells “Get your hands off the gun!” He shouts again and again.
Police earlier released footage from school surveillance cameras showing the attackers arriving at the school and breaking through a glass door. Armed women can be seen searching rooms and looking for people.
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