Tennessee shooting: Nashville police release security footage of tragic event

Monday evening, security camera footage was released by the Metro Nashville Police Department capturing a school shooting at The Covenant School, where Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old suspect, had earlier killed six people.

The video commences with an outdoor camera recording Hale driving her silver Honda Fit through the parking lot shared by the school and Covenant Presbyterian Church at around 9:53 a.m. local time. Hale parks the vehicle outside the camera’s range and proceeds towards the school building situated on Burton Hills Boulevard in Nashville.

The video then transitions to an indoor camera, which is positioned at one of the school entrances. Hale approaches the entrance and fires a weapon, smashing the double glass doors. At around 10:11 a.m., Hale enters the premises, walking through the shattered glass door opening and appearing in full view of the camera.

The shooter is observed wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt and a black vest, which is uncertain whether it is tactical gear. Additionally, Hale wears glasses, a red baseball cap, gray urban camouflage pants, and black and white shoes.

She carries an AR-style weapon in her right arm, while another weapon hangs on her left side. The recently released police footage depicts Hale strolling through multiple hallways, opening doors, and intermittently pointing her weapon while keeping it lowered at other times.

In one room with a sign reading “Church Office,” Hale would have been familiar with the layout since she was a previous student at the private Presbyterian school. Hale walks through the same hallway intersection several times before arriving at an entrance lobby, passing by a check-in desk with two Mac computers and a sign that reads “Children’s Ministry.”

As the footage ends, an alarm can be heard going off in the background. Hale’s killing spree resulted in the deaths of three 9-year-old students and three faculty members, and it lasted around 14 minutes.

The individuals who lost their lives were identified by the police as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all 9 years old, as well as Cynthia Peak, Katherine Koonce, and Mike Hill, aged 61.

According to Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake, when the officers approached the school, Hale fired shots at them from the second floor, hitting the windshield of a patrol car.