Nashville school shooter reportedly sent harrowing messages to former teammate prior to shooting

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By stefan armitage

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A former teammate of the Nashville school shooter has shared alleged messages she received from 28-year-old Audrey Hale prior to Monday's tragedy.

Following the heartbreaking events of Monday's shooting, the nation is mourning the loss of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney - all age 9 - Cynthia Peak, age 61, Katherine Koonce, age 60, and Mike Hill, age 61.

The six individuals were killed after Hale - who police say was assigned female at birth but used 'he/him' pronouns on certain social media accounts - entered the Covenant School in Nashville and opened fire.

The Metro Nashville Police Department has confirmed that Hale gained access to the school building after shooting glass panes in a side door. Hale then opened fire on those inside, in an attack that lasted approximately 14 minutes.

Responding officers brought an end to the attack when they found the shooter on the second floor and fatally shot Hale.

As more information surrounding the victims and shooter emerges today, a former middle school basketball teammate of Audrey Hale has spoken out about alleged messages they received on the morning of the attack.

Sharing screenshots with NewsChannel 5 Nashville (WTVF) , Averianna Patton says she checked her phone on Monday morning to find direct messages from Hale stating that "something bad is about to happen".

The messages were sent at 9.57AM on Monday morning, and detailed Hale's plans to die by suicide, telling Patton: "So basically that post I made on here about you, that was basically a suicide note. I'm planning to die today. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!!!"

Hale added that Patton would be reading about it "on the news after I die".

"This is my last goodbye," Hale continued.

In response, Patten replied: "Audrey! You have so much more life to live. I pray God keeps and covers you."

"I know but I don't want to live. I'm so sorry. I'm not trying to upset you or get your attention," Hale responded.

Other messages stated "one day this will make more sense" and "I’ve left behind more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen."

Hale also mentioned: "My family doesn't know what I'm about to do."

In an interview with NewsChannel 5, Patton revealed that she called the Nashville Davidson County Sheriff's Office at 10:13AM under the instruction of her father.

However, she claims she was instructed to call Nashville's non-emergency number - which she did one minute later.

"I called Nashville's non-emergency line at 10:14AM and was on hold for nearly seven minutes before speaking with someone who said that they would send an officer to my home. An officer did not come to my home until 3:29PM," Patton told the outlet.

Per CNN, Don Aaron, a spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department, has stated that the first calls of an active shooting came in at around 10:15AM.

In response to Monday's shooting, Nashville Mayor John Cooper had stated: "The leading cause of kids' death now is guns and gunfire and that is unacceptable."

President Joe Biden has also called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, after police say Hale was carrying two "assault rifles".

Our thoughts continue to go out to the victims' families and anybody affected by this tragedy.

Featured image credit: Camden Hall / Alamy

Nashville school shooter reportedly sent harrowing messages to former teammate prior to shooting

vt-author-image

By stefan armitage

Article saved!Article saved!

A former teammate of the Nashville school shooter has shared alleged messages she received from 28-year-old Audrey Hale prior to Monday's tragedy.

Following the heartbreaking events of Monday's shooting, the nation is mourning the loss of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney - all age 9 - Cynthia Peak, age 61, Katherine Koonce, age 60, and Mike Hill, age 61.

The six individuals were killed after Hale - who police say was assigned female at birth but used 'he/him' pronouns on certain social media accounts - entered the Covenant School in Nashville and opened fire.

The Metro Nashville Police Department has confirmed that Hale gained access to the school building after shooting glass panes in a side door. Hale then opened fire on those inside, in an attack that lasted approximately 14 minutes.

Responding officers brought an end to the attack when they found the shooter on the second floor and fatally shot Hale.

As more information surrounding the victims and shooter emerges today, a former middle school basketball teammate of Audrey Hale has spoken out about alleged messages they received on the morning of the attack.

Sharing screenshots with NewsChannel 5 Nashville (WTVF) , Averianna Patton says she checked her phone on Monday morning to find direct messages from Hale stating that "something bad is about to happen".

The messages were sent at 9.57AM on Monday morning, and detailed Hale's plans to die by suicide, telling Patton: "So basically that post I made on here about you, that was basically a suicide note. I'm planning to die today. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!!!"

Hale added that Patton would be reading about it "on the news after I die".

"This is my last goodbye," Hale continued.

In response, Patten replied: "Audrey! You have so much more life to live. I pray God keeps and covers you."

"I know but I don't want to live. I'm so sorry. I'm not trying to upset you or get your attention," Hale responded.

Other messages stated "one day this will make more sense" and "I’ve left behind more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen."

Hale also mentioned: "My family doesn't know what I'm about to do."

In an interview with NewsChannel 5, Patton revealed that she called the Nashville Davidson County Sheriff's Office at 10:13AM under the instruction of her father.

However, she claims she was instructed to call Nashville's non-emergency number - which she did one minute later.

"I called Nashville's non-emergency line at 10:14AM and was on hold for nearly seven minutes before speaking with someone who said that they would send an officer to my home. An officer did not come to my home until 3:29PM," Patton told the outlet.

Per CNN, Don Aaron, a spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department, has stated that the first calls of an active shooting came in at around 10:15AM.

In response to Monday's shooting, Nashville Mayor John Cooper had stated: "The leading cause of kids' death now is guns and gunfire and that is unacceptable."

President Joe Biden has also called on Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, after police say Hale was carrying two "assault rifles".

Our thoughts continue to go out to the victims' families and anybody affected by this tragedy.

Featured image credit: Camden Hall / Alamy