Bodycam footage shows moment cops take out transgender Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale
Police have released chilling body camera footage of the moment mass shooter Audrey Hale was taken down by officers – revealing she suffered from an “emotional disorder” and hid her weapons from her parents.
Footage released by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shows officers Rex Englebert and Michael Collazo storming the halls of The Covenant School as they methodically hunted down the 28-year-old mass murderer on Monday.
Soon after they entered the building, heroic police officers were seen rushing to the second-floor atrium of the private Christian academy, shouting “shots fired” repeatedly.
As they turn the corner and look at Hale, the camera shows the officers firing rapidly as the gunman fires bullets in their direction.
Seconds later, Hale was seen falling to the floor.
In the footage, officers can be seen cautiously approaching the gunman’s lifeless body, shouting “don’t move” and “get your hands off the gun”.
Hale, who was armed with two rifles and a handgun, was killed in the shootout.
At a news conference Tuesday, Metropolitan Nashville Police Chief John Drake said the 28-year-old man legally purchased seven guns at various local stores — including the three used in the massacre.
The gunman was also receiving treatment for an emotional disorder — and hid a cache of guns from his parents, the police chief said.
“She was under the care of doctors for an emotional disturbance,” Drake told reporters, adding that officers “didn’t know anything about the treatment she was receiving.”
The police chief did not specify what emotional disorder she suffered from.
A source close to the Hale family told the Daily Beast that the shooter was autistic “but high functioning” — but police were not immediately able to confirm that.
Footage shows the moment police led Audrey Hale out after she opened fire at Covenant School in Nashville on Monday.
Nashville Metropolitan Police Department
Hale was killed in a shootout with police after killing six people at the school.
Nashville Metropolitan Police Department
Audrey Hale after she was shot
Hale can be seen on the ground after the shootout.
Nashville Metropolitan Police Department
Hale also identified as transgender, Drake revealed at a news conference earlier Monday, though it was unclear whether the suspect identified as male or female.
Asked if Hale’s identity could be a factor in the motive, Drake said, “There is a theory, we’re investigating all leads.”
Hale used male pronouns and the name Aiden on some social media accounts.
The mass murderer – dressed in a backward red hat, military fatigues, and a dark vest – was also earlier captured on surveillance video casually walking down corridors after victims as officers rushed to the scene.
Police said Hale was able to gain access to the school by pumping bullets through a glass door on the side of the building.
After unleashing a reign of deadly terror, the gunman began shooting at arriving police officers from a second-story window, where she was eventually taken out.
Officer Rex Engelbert.
Footage released by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department shows Officer Rex Englebert storming the school’s hallways looking for Hale.
Hale shot and killed three nine-year-old children and three employees minutes before she was fatally shot by police.
The victims were identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and Williams Kinney, as well as custodian Mike Hill, 61, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and principal Katherine Koonce, 60.
Drake has yet to reveal a motive for the massacre but said Hale, who was a former student, carefully planned the massacre.
