Two weeks after the murder of six people at a Christian private school in Nashville, the killer’s manifesto still has not been released.
Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old biological female who identified as a male, allegedly entered The Covenant School on March 27 and fatally shot three children and three adults, as reported by The Dallas Express.
In a press conference shortly afterward, Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) Chief John Drake said, “We have a manifesto, we have some writings that we are going over that pertain to this date, the actual incident, we have a map drawn out of how this was all going to take place.”
When asked whether Hale’s reported transgender identification played a role in the attack, Chief Drake answered, “There is some theory to that.”
In a photo released by the police of the weapons on Hale’s person, the word “Aiden” was written on one of them, likely a name Hale went by according to LinkedIn and other digital records.
MNPD and federal authorities have thus far refused to release the manifesto, claiming that doing so would negatively impact the ongoing investigation.
Public information officers at MNPD additionally told The Dallas Express that there is no timeline for its release.
A list of property seized from Hale’s residence by law enforcement officials while executing a warrant shows that Hale wrote extensively. Police recovered several memoirs, over a dozen journals, folders, and a suicide note.
Hale apparently did not intend to leave a mystery as to Hale’s motive, writing the day of the shooting “One day this will make more sense. I’ve left more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.”
An MNPD press statement on the investigation from April 3 explained, “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,” MNPD noted. “The motive for Hale’s actions has not been established and remains under investigation by the Homicide Unit in consultation with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit.”
However, the statement notes, “It is known that Hale considered the actions of other mass murderers.”
David Rausch, the director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), allegedly told a group of sheriffs that Hale “did not write about specific political, religious, or social issues,” according to Nashville News Channel 5. Instead, the writings show that Hale appeared to idolize the perpetrators of previous school shootings.
The TBI refused to verify whether Rausch made such a statement.
TBI communications director Josh DeVine told The Dallas Express, “While I can confirm the Director did speak to the Tennessee Sheriff’s Association recently, I cannot confirm specifics of his remarks, as they were intended solely for the law enforcement officers in attendance.”
DeVine added, “As you may know, our role is limited to assisting the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department in its investigation and they are handling the public release of information related to the case.”
In messages to a former basketball teammate sent shortly before the attack, Hale explained, “One day this will make more sense. … I’ve left behind more than enough evidence,” per the Independent.
While the manifesto and other writings have yet to be disclosed, authorities were quick to release body camera footage of the responding officers who neutralized Hale, as reported by The Dallas Express.
Some LGBTQ groups have argued that the manifesto should never be released.
Jordan Budd of Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere said, “It should not be published. The focus should be on how this was able to happen in the first place. There should not be such easy access to deadly weaponry,” per Newsweek.
Recently, another transgender person was arrested in Colorado on attempted murder charges for allegedly targeting schools and churches in a manifesto found by police.
William Whitworth, a biological male who identifies as a female under the name “Lilly,” was arrested by the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office after a family member called to report threatening statements against local schools.
The responding officer explained in his report that Whitworth “verified that Timberview Middle school was one of the ‘main targets’ currently and other targets were churches.”
Whitworth told the officer about a manifesto that “was four pages long and had schizophrenic rants on them,” according to the report. The report further alleges that Whitworth claimed to know “too much” about school shootings, stating, “there’s a page in my manifesto and there’s a bunch of mass killers.”
When the police found the manifesto, it contained “detailed lists of numerous named individuals to be killed and their [intended] casualty versus injury rate, information detailing the creation of improvised explosive devices,” and the finalization of several locations, in addition to more information about weapons, according to the report from the Elbert County Sheriff’s Office.
