Nashville school shooter spent months planning deadly attack, police say

Nashville becomes latest city to be identified with gun violence

The assailant in last week's deadly shooting at a Nashville school planned the attack over "a period of months," police said Monday. Investigators made that determination after reviewing the shooter's writings, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said in a statement.

Three 9-year-old children and three adults were killed during the attack at The Covenant School.

Authorities say police shot and killed the assailant, a former student they identified as 28-year-old Audrey Hale. The shooter fired 152 rounds during last week's rampage, police said Monday.

The writings were recovered from the shooter's vehicle in the school parking lot and their bedroom, police said. The writings are being reviewed by Nashville police and the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit.

Investigators still haven't established a motive for the shooting. What's been uncovered so far shows that the shooter acted alone, police said. The investigation is ongoing.

Officers took down the assailant within 14 minutes of receiving the report of the school shooting, according to Nashville Mayor John Cooper. "Many lives" were saved by the quick response, he said on "CBS Mornings."

Two officers fired fewer than 10 rounds at the shooter, police said. Officer Rex Engelbert discharged four rounds from his rifle, and Officer Michael Collazo discharged four rounds from his 9 mm pistol.

Body camera video from the two officers shows them entering the school last Monday and checking classrooms, stairwells and hallways before taking the shooter down in a brief confrontation.

Analisa Novak contributed reporting.

f

We and our partners use cookies to understand how you use our site, improve your experience and serve you personalized content and advertising. Read about how we use cookies in our cookie policy and how you can control them by clicking Manage Settings. By continuing to use this site, you accept these cookies.