The shooter who gunned down three children and three staff members at a Nashville Christian school on Monday was a former student who carefully planned the attack with detailed maps and surveillance, police said.
“We have some writings that we’re going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident,” Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters hours after the shooting at The Covenant School. “We have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place.”
The shooter, Audrey Hale, 28, of Nashville, identified as transgender and had no previous criminal record, according to the chief.
Drake said his investigators are working on a possible motive but he declined to reveal that on Monday afternoon.
“There’s right now a theory that we may be able to talk about later but it’s not confirmed,” the chief said.
Asked specifically if Hale’s identity could have factored into the killer’s motive, Drake said: “There is some theory to that, we’re investigating all the leads.”
Hale was heavily armed, according to the chief, who said the shooter had two AR-style weapons and a handgun.
Two of those three weapons were legally obtained in the Nashville area, the police chief added.
Hale was confronted by five officers and two of them opened fire, killing the attacker, authorities said.
A car near the shooting scene helped police determine who the shooter was.
