School shooting at elementary school in Nashville, six dead (Update: Shooter identified, left behind a manifesto)

There was a shooting this morning at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville called The Covenant School. Six people were killed not including the shooter who was shot and killed by police at the scene. Initial reports suggested the shooter was a teenage girl but police have now revealed the shooter was a 28-year-old woman.

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Here’s a description of the police response.

“The police department response was swift,” police spokesperson Don Aaron told reporters.

“They heard shots coming from the second level. They immediately went to the gunfire. When the officers got to the second level, they saw a shooter, a female, who was firing. The officers engaged her. She was fatally shot by responding police officers.”

Five police officers came upon the shooter and two opened fire on her, Aaron said. The shooter had entered the school through a “side entrance” on the first floor, he added.

“By 10:27 the shooter was deceased,” Aaron said.

Here’s the police statement released a short time ago.

A gun control activist went to the mic as soon as the police spokesman was finished with it.

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The White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, was quick to blame this on Republicans.

Joe Biden was expected to also make a statement about the shooting at another event that was happening at the White House today. That led to this somewhat awkward transition.

Biden did eventually speak about the shooting.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake gave another update on the shooting a short time ago and he confirmed that the identity of the shooter is known. Police are searcher her house and are still looking for signs of a possible motive. He also mentions that the shooter is believed to have been a former student at the school though he didn’t say when or for how long.

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There will be more updates as the day goes on and I’ll add them below.

Update: The police have identified all six of the victims.

Update: NBC News has identified the shooter as Audrey Hale.

The shooter was identified as Audrey Hale, a Nashville resident, three law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told NBC News.

There were no answers on Monday afternoon at multiple phone numbers listed for Hale’s mother and brother.

People have also noticed that Audrey’s Instagram account, which has already been deleted, was creative.aiden and her LinkedIn page said she preferred the pronouns he/him.

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Here’s the most recent press conference where Chief Drake confirmed the shooter’s name and confirmed that she did identify as transgender. He also made clear that the shooter had left behind a manifesto and a map showing this was planned in advance.

That clip above is hard to search because it was a livestream which hadn’t ended yet. The clip below is more concise. Near the end of this clip a reporter asks if the shooter’s trans identity had anything to do with the motive. Chief Drake replied, “We can give you that at a later time. There is some theory to that. We’re investigating all the leads and once we know exactly we’ll let you know.”

Chief Drake says she identified as a woman which suggests she was born male, but I don’t follow how that lines up with the he/him pronouns on the LinkedIn account. Someone will straighten this out eventually.

Update: There’s no proof this shooting in Nashville is connected to this event scheduled for this coming Saturday but the timing sure looks bad.

Update: It was just a couple days ago I was saying that I don’t believe in “stochastic terrorism.” One of the reasons I don’t is because you never see anyone talking about it when a left wing person does something violent. Glenn Greenwald is making that point.

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It’s too late to not talk about this so people are quickly shifting gears from stochastic terrorism to right-wing policies and influence in Tennessee.

The quoted tweet got deleted which is why I’ve added a screengrab. Anyway, I think this sums it up pretty accurately.

Update: There were some reports earlier that a door was left open, giving Hale access to the premises. That was apparently wrong. Police say she shot out the glass and then entered. Notice all the evidence markers on the ground. I’m guessing those were shell casings.

Update: Just to clear this up.

Don Aaron, a police spokesman, later clarified the chief’s remarks. “Audrey Hale is a biological woman who, on a social media profile, used male pronouns,” Aaron said in an email.

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So does that mean everyone who has called her Audrey Hale has been deadnaming her all day? And is that the name Aiden written on the stock of one of the guns used in the attack? It’s hard to tell for certain.

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