The Nashville school shooter’s chilling warning to a former middle school basketball teammate has surfaced, shedding new light on the tragic events at The Covenant School. The latest inside…
New details are emerging about the Nashville school shooting that took the lives of three students and three adults.
Audrey Hale, the 28-year-old deceased shooter who was a former student at The Covenant School (a private Christian School in Green Hills), sent an alarming Instagram message to a former middle school basketball teammate, Averianna Patton, at 9:57 a.m., just minutes before carrying out a deadly mass shooting.
According to Averianna, who attended Isaiah T. Creswell Middle School with Hale, the shooter messaged her on Instagram just 20 minutes before police received calls about the shooting, where Hale (who is transgender) discussed a desire to die and cryptically warned that something bad was about to happen. The shocking revelation has left many wondering if more could have been done to prevent the tragedy.
Below is a screenshot of the alleged Instagram messages:
NEW: Texts sent to former middle school basketball teammate by Nashville shooter just before the mass shooting – WTVF pic.twitter.com/1cICCYlS7F
— Breaking News (@NewsJunkieBreak) March 28, 2023
In the messages, Audrey (Aiden) expressed a desire to die by suicide and warned Averianna that she would see it on the news. The shooter wrote that they would meet again in another life. Averianna said the messages were alarming and she sent them to her father and asked if she should contact someone. He advised her to share the messages, and that’s when she started “making calls.”
”I’m trying to still understand. … Just to learn that I received a message before, it’s just like, ‘Wow,'” she said. “Just pray, just pray.”
According to Averianna, she had seen Hale a few weeks ago at a painting event to remember a mutual friend who had died in a car crash, and she didn’t notice anything unusual about her behavior. Now, Averianna is struggling to come to terms with the tragic incident.
”I don’t know what to say,” she said.
Watch her interview with NBC’s “Nightly News” below:
Check out Averianna’s interview with CNN below:
During a press briefing, Nashville Police Chief John Drake stated that the shooter was receiving medical attention for an undisclosed emotional disorder and had no prior record with law enforcement. Police Chief Drake said investigators don’t know what drove Hale to carry out the shooting, but believe the shooter had “some resentment for having to go to that school.”
According to police, the shooter legally purchased seven weapons and conducted surveillance of the building before carrying out the massacre, which claimed the lives of three staff members and three students.
The victims included three 9-year-old students: Evelyn Dieckhaus, William Kinney, and Hallie Scruggs, the daughter of lead church pastor Chad Scruggs. Also killed were Cynthia Peak, 61, a substitute teacher; Katherine Koonce, the 60-year-old head of the school; and Mike Hill, a 61-year-old custodian.
This little girl tried saving her friends by pulling a fire alarm when she heard the Nashville shooter coming.
She was shot and killed.
Her name was Evelyn Dieckhaus.
Don’t skip this without leaving a heart for her. pic.twitter.com/igczwPo1eS
— Mohamad Safa (@mhdksafa) March 29, 2023
Although Hale was under a doctor’s care for an undisclosed emotional disorder, they were not known to police before the attack. Tennessee currently does not have a “red flag” law, which allows police to remove firearms from individuals who threaten to kill.
As the community mourns, Gov. Bill Lee shared that victim Cynthia Peak was close friend of his wife’s and that she was supposed to have dinner with them on the day she was killed.
What happened at The Covenant School yesterday was a tragedy beyond comprehension. I want to speak directly to Tennesseans about the way forward. pic.twitter.com/3poMgYgxeq
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) March 28, 2023
The entryway of The Covenant School has transformed into a memorial for the victims of Monday’s school shooting, as people gather to console each other during this difficult time. Sending up prayers for the victims’ families and friends during this unimaginable time.
Photo: AP Photo/John Amis
