The former teammate of the Nashville school shooter has shared further details regarding the messages she received from Audrey Hale minutes before Monday's tragedy unfolded.
Prior to 28-year-old Hale entering The Covenant School in Nashville - a private Christian elementary school - Averianna Patton received a series of Instagram messages from her former middle school basketball teammate.
Patton would later share screenshots of those messages with CNN affiliate NewsChannel 5 Nashville (WTVF).
In the messages, Hale warned Patton that "something bad is about to happen" and told her: "I'm planning to die today. THIS IS NOT A JOKE!!!!"
Despite Patton telling Hale "you have so much more life to live", her former teammate told her: "I'm so sorry. I'm not trying to upset you or get your attention," and "one day this will make more sense".
Just minutes after sending the messages, Hale pulled up on The Covenant School grounds in a silver Honda Fit. Armed with three firearms, Hale - who police say was assigned female at birth but used 'he/him' pronouns on certain social media accounts - then shot the glass window panes of a side door in order to gain access to the building.
While inside, Hale opened fire on students and staff members - killing six people in total.
The victims have been named as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney - all aged nine - and Cynthia Peak, age 61, Katherine Koonce, age 60, and Mike Hill, age 61.
Per CNN, Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson Don Aaron said during a news conference that the first calls of an active shooting came in at around 10:15AM. When responding officers entered the building, they found Hale on the second floor, and confronted and killed the shooter at 10:27AM.
In an interview with WTVF, Patton states that - after seeking advice from her father - she reached out to the Suicide Prevention Help Line at 10:08AM.
Following this, she called the Nashville Davidson County Sheriff's Office at 10:13AM in an attempt to make them aware of the messages Hale had sent her. Patton claims she was then instructed to call Nashville's non-emergency number.
"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," Hatton told WTVF. "An officer did not come to my home until 3:29PM."
Speaking to CNN's Don Lemon on Tuesday morning (March 28), Patton said she "just couldn't believe it" after police eventually identified Hale as the shooter.
Lemon asked why she believes Hale reached out to her specifically, to which she said that she is a known radio personality in Nashville, but that she's "asking God the same question".
She now believes there needs to be "some better protocol" in order to prevent a situation like Monday's tragedy from occurring in the future.
Patton said: "I just want to see if it's something that we can do as a community, as a city, to avoid this."
Nashville Mayor John Cooper said on Tuesday that this is the city's "worst day", but that "it could have been worse" if it weren't for the "brave response" of the MNPD.
The officers who fatally shot Hale have been named as Officer Rex Englebert and Officer Michael Collazo.
Cooper said during a statement to the press: "I think the public is going to go back to questioning why we have so few restrictions on guns, particularly assault-level type guns."
"Nashville joins now a long list of where there are school shootings, where our kids are targeted," Cooper continued. "And you've got to be careful about the mental health and access to guns issue in America."
Our thoughts continue to go out to anybody impacted by this tragedy.
