Nashville Police Department: School Shooter Fired 152 Rounds, Planned Attack for Months

AP Photo/John Amis

The Metropolitan Nashville Police Department released more information on the school shooting at The Covenant School, in which three adults and three children were killed. In a press release published on Monday, the agency provided more details on the tragedy.

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From the press release:

In the collective writings by Hale found in her vehicle in the school parking lot, and others later found in the bedroom of her home, she documented, in journals, her planning over a period of months to commit mass murder at The Covenant School. The writings remain under careful review by the MNPD and the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia.

The agency notes that Hale’s motive “has not been established and remains under investigation by the Homicide Unit in consultation with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.”

The press release also indicates that Hale had studied other mass murderers.

While carrying out the shooting, Hale fired a total of 152 rounds from when she first started the assault to when she was killed by police. “Two officers fired on Hale. Officer Rex Engelbert discharged a total of four 5.56 rounds from his rifle; Officer Michael Collazo discharged a total of four rounds from his department-issued nine millimeter pistol,” the document read.

Scores of police personnel from a number of components responded to the Covenant call last Monday. The department’s Professional Wellness Section is conducting critical incident debriefings, including daily wellness checks, for involved personnel.

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The fallout from the shooting has continued as residents grapple with the tragedy and leaders work to figure out how to prevent future incidents. The Tennessean published a report on Jared Sullivan, a supporter of gun control who staged the “Rally for Common-sense Gun Laws” on Saturday morning.

“It’s to our disgrace as a state and a nation that it takes tragedies like the one this week to illuminate our failures to keep children safe,” Sullivan said during the rally. “But now tragedy has visited our community, and we need to not cower or throw up our hands and say, ‘There’s nothing we can do,’ but instead stand up and advocate for goodness and peace.”

On Thursday, hundreds of protestors descended upon the Tennessee State Capitol to voice their support for new regulations, with the Tennessee Highway Patrol describing the gathering as “loud” but ultimately peaceful.

Others have suggested taking measures to turn schools into hard targets. They argue that implementing heightened security measures and enlisting armed personnel is a better way to discourage and stop would-be school shooters.

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Gov. Bill Lee proposed increasing funding for school security. The proposal would place an armed guard in every Tennessee public school and provide funding for private schools to do the same. His administration is also looking at increased funding for mental health as well.

Last week, the authorities confirmed that Hale had written a manifesto prior to the shooting. They explained that the document would be released to the public at some unspecified point in the future. It is expected that the manifesto might confirm the shooter’s motive.

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