Nashville School Shooter Identified in Attack that Killed 6 People, Including 3 Children

Audrey Hale opened fire inside The Covenant School, killing six innocent people, including three children

Shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. Photo: Jonathan Mattise/AP/Shutterstock

The shooter in Monday's mass shooting in Nashville has been identified as Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old who once attended The Covenant School, where the shooting that killed six innocent people took place.

Nashville police announced the news at a Monday press conference.

Prior to identifying Hale, police announced that the victims were Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9, Hallie Scruggs, 9, William Kinney, 9, Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.

Don Aaron, the Nashville Police Department spokesman, said the shooter entered The Covenant School through the side entrance before opening fire. The shooter was engaged on the second floor of the building by two police officers who responded to a 10:13 a.m. call, and died at the scene, Aaron said.

Aaron added there are no other gunshot victims, but a police officer was injured by broken glass.

The shooter had two "assault-type rifles" and one pistol, said Aaron, adding that the shooter was dead by 10:27 a.m.

According to its website, The Covenant School was founded in 2001 by the Covenant Presbyterian Church, and the average enrollment is 195-210.

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According to statistics from the Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are shot, regardless of the number of fatalities, there were 128 mass shootings in 2023 as of Monday morning.