This post originally appeared at https://thestarnewsnetwork.com/2025/04/03/metro-nashville-police-concludes-investigation-on-covenant-school-killer-audrey-elizabeth-hale-releases-48-page-report-2/

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Wednesday concluded its investigation into the Covenant School attack committed on March 27, 2023 by 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man prior to killing six at the Christian school she once attended, sharing key findings about the investigation in a 48-page report.

Despite needing more than two years to complete its investigation, MNPD confirmed that “Hale acted alone during the attack itself,” and no one around the killer had knowledge she was planning the attack.

In total, the department found Hale’s parents, mental health providers, and the firearm retailers who sold her weapons bore no responsibility and had no prior knowledge of Hale’s plans.

Of note, MNPD did not use the word “transgender” in its report, but the department acknowledged Hale “gender identified as male and used he/him as preferred pronouns” prior to her death.

The report later acknowledged Hale “made statements about wanting to transition genders,” but claimed “[n]othing has been found to suggest he initiated or was undergoing a transition at the time of her death, including medical documentation.”

Hale, a 22-year mental health patient who The Star reported last year was twice considered for commitment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), was determined by MNPD to be sane when she claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members.

According to the report, Hale was motivated by notoriety, and created “bedroom tapes,” in the style of the Columbine School killers, during which she apparently explained her forthcoming attack.

It also stated that Hale selected the Covenant School based on the perceived notoriety the attack would generate, her analysis that it would be comparatively easy to commit the attack at a school she was familiar with, and that she considered her victims to be innocent, harboring no grudge nor ill will toward them.

MNPD also revealed that Hale began planning her attack in 2017, approximately six years before she would actualize her fantasy.

The report was released as both Star News Digital Media, Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, remain in court to compel MNPD and the FBI to release Hale’s full writings (pictured here), which reportedly number more than 900 pages.

Despite the refusal of the FBI and MNPD to release the documents, last year The Tennessee Star obtained and published the killer’s 2023 journal, initially called a manifesto by police, which revealed Hale’s intense opinions on transgenderism, obsession with former childhood friends, and years-long plot to attack the Covenant School that culminated in the March 27, 2023 attack.

FBI Director Kash Patel indicated that he would release Hale’s writings if made the agency’s director, and SNDM has extended a settlement offer that would see the lawsuit dropped in exchange for Patel dropping the agency’s opposition to their release around the time of his confirmation. The FBI has yet to respond to the offer.

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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to pappert.tom@proton.me. 

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