• A 28-year-old woman kills three children and three adults in another shooting at a U.S. school

The former student who fired through the doors of a Christian elementary school in Nashville and killed three children and three adults had drawn a detailed map of the school, including possible entry points, and thoroughly monitored the building before carrying out the massacre.

The police identified the perpetrator of the shooting as Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a transgender woman who is identified at all times with the pronoun "she, but, as EFE has been able to verify, the assailant alludes to herself in her social networks as "he".

Hale, 28, was armed with two "assault" weapons as well as a handgun. At least two of them are believed to have been legally obtained in the Nashville area. Police have reported that a search of Hale's home has also found a sawed-off shotgun, a second shotgun and other unspecified evidence.

The girl, who had no criminal record and was described by authorities as "transgender," lived with her parents.

Nashville Metropolitan Police Chief John Drake has not said exactly what motives led her to open fire Monday morning at The Covenant School before being shot by police, but he has reported some documents they have found a posteriori. "We have some writings that we are reviewing and a map drawn," he told reporters.

In addition, in an interview with NBC News he has reported that investigators believe that the shooter had "some resentment about having to go to that school," although all the details are not yet known.

The victims have been identified as Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9, and adults Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.

On the website of The Covenant School, a Presbyterian school founded in 2001, a certain Katherine Koonce appears as the school's principal. His LinkedIn profile says he has run the school since July 2016. Peak was a substitute teacher and Hill was a janitor, according to investigators.

Founded as a ministry of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, The Covenant School is located in the affluent neighborhood of Green Hills, just south of downtown Nashville, home to the famous Bluebird Café, a popular spot for musicians and songwriters.

The school has about 200 students, from preschool to sixth grade, and about 50 employees. "Our community is heartbroken," a statement from the school reads. "We mourn the tremendous loss and shock after the terror that tore apart our school and church. We are focused on loving our students, our families, our faculty and staff and beginning the healing process."

President Joe Biden, in a speech Monday at the White House, called the shooting "a family's worst nightmare" and again implored Congress to pass a ban on certain semiautomatic weapons.

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  • United States
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