Nashville Police have released body cam footage less than 24 hours after a 28-year-old ex-student murdered six students and staff at the Covenant School, a small private Christian school in the city Monday morning.
The footage shows several law enforcement officers entering the school and engaging in a brief firefight with the shooter. The shooter was armed with three guns, including a rifle and two pistols.
The shooter, who police identified as Audrey Hale, is said to have left behind a manifesto.
After an initial period of confusion about Hale’s gender, it emerged that she was a biological woman who identified as a man.
Nashville Police Chief John Drake told reporters his department is investigating what role, if any, Hale’s gender identity played in the act of terrorism.
The student victims have been identified Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all aged 9. The school head Katherine Koonce, 60, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and school janitor Mike Hill, 61, were also killed.