Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake has identified the pair of officers who took down the suspect in a shooting at the Covenant School.
Drake said in a statement that Officer Rex Englebert and Officer Michael Collazo shot at the suspect, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, “And fatally wounded her,” per Fox News.
Before officers shot the suspect, Hale killed six individuals, including three children.
Drake explained the first 911 call “about shots being fired in the building came in at 10:13 a.m.”
He continued, “Officers rushed to the campus, made entry, and began clearing the building. Shots were heard coming from the second level. It was on the second floor, in a common area, that a team of officers encountered Hale shooting (she had been firing through a window at arriving police cars). Two members of an officer team fired on Hale and fatally wounded her.”
Nashville Police Officer Michael Collazo and Officer Rex Englebert shot and killed school shooter Audrey Hale.
— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) March 28, 2023
When officers arrived — investigators say Hale was shooting at police cars through a window.
Collazo and Englebert ran toward the gunfire — killing the shooter. pic.twitter.com/2PS63RPBo2
While speaking at a press conference, Drake called the shooting a “targeted attack,” IJR reported.
According to Drake, a map of the school and a manifesto were discovered.
Additionally, he shared the 28-year-old suspect identified as transgender.
The three 9-year-old victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney.
The suspect also killed Cynthia Peak, 61, Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
In a Facebook post, the department confirmed Hale previously attended the school.
Another post reported Hale drove to the school and “shot her way into the building.”
The post continues, “She was armed with 2 assault-type guns and a 9 millimeter pistol.”
Former school headmaster Bill Campbell told NBC News he remembered Hale as a student at the school in third grade in 2005 and fourth grade in 2006, citing yearbooks.
“I’ve looked back in my annuals and I do remember her as a former student,” Campbell said.
He added, “She was just one of our young ladies. … She was just a typical co-ed. A typical student.”
