I SPENT MUCH OF LAST NIGHT AND GOOD PORTION OF THE DAY GOING THROUGH LENGTHY DOCUMENTS THAT PROVIDE A DETAILED WINDOW INTO THE METRO NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT’S INVESTIGATION INTO THE COVENANT SCHOOL SHOOTING. OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS, I WILL BE SHARING DETAILS ABOUT THE SHOOTING AND THE SHOOTER – DETAILS THAT HAVE NEVER BEFORE BEEN SHARED WITH THE PUBLIC.
TODAY I START WITH NEW INFORMATION WITH REGARD TO WHAT HAS BEEN REFERRED TO AS THE MANIFESTO. THE TRUTH IS THERE IS NO MANIFESTO. THERE ARE NO WRITINGS WHERE THE SHOOTER TRIES TO EXPLAIN THE RATIONALE FOR THE ATTACK ON THE SCHOOL THAT FATEFUL DAY … MARCH 27 OF 2023. WHAT POLICE HAVE UNCOVERED ARE APPROXIMATELY 20 JOURNALS … SOMETIMES DESCRIBED AS DIARIES. THE WRITING BEGAN IN MIDDLE SCHOOL AND CONTINUED UP UNTIL THE DAY OF THE SHOOTING.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE SHOOTING, POLICE FOUND THE SHOOTER’S CAR IN THE PARKING LOT OF THE SCHOOL. INSIDE THEY FOUND: SEVERAL OF HER MOST BELOVED STUFFED ANIMALS, HER CAR KEYS, HER PHONE, TWO FLASH DRIVES CONTAINING A GREAT DEAL OF DATA --- INCLUDING A NUMBER OF VIDEOS, AND HER TWO MOST RECENT JOURNALS.
THESE TWO JOURNALS REVEAL OBSESSIVE PLANNING FOR THE ATTACK. IN FACT, WHEN POLICE RECOVERED THE OTHER JOURNALS FROM HER BEDROOM IN HER PARENT’S HOME, THEY DISCOVERED THAT THE SHOOTER HAD BEEN THINKING ABOUT VARIOUS SCHOOL SHOOTING SCENARIOS SINCE WHE WAS IN MIDDLE SCHOOL.
IN FACT, OVER THE COURSE OF MANY YEARS THE SHOOTER HAD INDEED SHARED WITH HER THERAPISTS THAT SHE HAD THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE, HOMICIDE -- AND IN FACT REVEALED ON AT LEAST ONE OCCASION THAT SHE HAS FANTASIZED ABOUT CARRYNG OUT A SCHOOL SCHOOTING. MORE ON THAT IN FUTURE REPORTS.
INVESTIGATORS SPENT COUNTLESS HOURS STUDYING THESE JOURNALS. THEY FOUND THAT AT TIMES THE SHOOTER WROTE AS AUDREY. AUDREY, THEY SAY, WROTE IN A MORE FEMININE HANDWRITING. ON SOME PAGES HER ALTER EGO AIDEN WAS WRITING. AIDEN’S WRITINGS WERE DARKER … THE HANDWRITING DESCRIBED AS MORE MANLY.
IN FACT, IN READING THESE DOCUMENTS, ONE GETS THE SENSE THAT THERE WERE TWO AUDREY’S. ONE PERSONA SHE SHOWED HER PARENTS AND THOSE SHE ENCOUNTERED. THEY DESCRIBED HER AS CHILDLIKE. THOUGH SHE WAS 28 AT THE TIME OFTHER ATTACK, HER BEDROOM WAS FILLED WITH DOLLS AND STUFFED ANIMALS THAT SHE NAMED AND CARED DEEPLY ABOUT. BUT THE JOURNALS REVEALED ANGER … AT TIMES RAGE. SHE BECAME ADEPT AT HIDING THINGS FROM HER PARENTS. SHE TOOK MONEY FROM AN EDUCATION GRANT SHE RECEIVED TO PURCHASE HER WEAPONS AND TO PAY FOR TRAINING AT A LOCAL GUN RANGE.
ONE OF THE THINGS REVEALED IN THE JOURNALS IS THAT THE SHOOTER GREATLY ADMIRED PEOPLE OF COLOR. SHE IS SAID TO HAVE ESPECIALLLY ADMIRED BLACK FEMALE ATHLETES, SHE WROTE IN THE JOURNALS THAT SHE HOPED NO BROWN OR BLACK PEOPLE WOULD BE HARMED IN HER ATTACK ON THE SCHOOL. SHE DID, IN FACT, WALK PAST TWO HISPANIC MEN WHO WERE WORKING ON LANDSCAPING AT THE SCHOOL BEFORE SHE BEGAN THE ATTACK AT THE SCHOOLS FRONT DOOR. THEY SAW HER APPROACH WITH WEAPONRY AND RAN AWAY TO SAFETY. SADLY, THE FIRST PERSON KILLED THAT DAY WAS THE SCHOOL’S AFRICAN AMERICAN JANITOR. THE JOURNALS ALSO REVEAL A HATRED FOR WHAT SHE CALLED “WHITE KHAKI WEARING PEOPLE.” THERE IS NO EXPLATION GIVEN FOR THE SHOOTER’S FIXATION ON RACE.
AS I MENTIONED, INVESTIGATORS SAID THE ATTACK WAS OBSESSIVLEY PLANNED. THERE WERE TWEAKS TO THE PLAN. REVISIONS.
THE SHOOTER WAS CLOSE TO HER MOTHER. HER MOTHER HAD HELPED HER NAVIGATE LIFE. AND SHE NEEDED A LOT OF HELP. FOR THE SHOOTER, WE HAVE LEARNED IN THESE DOCUMENTS, WAS DISGNOSED AT AN EARLY AGE TO BE AUTISTIC.
NOT ONLY THAT, SHE WAS DIAGNOSED AS HAVING AN AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDER. THE SHOOTER WAS SAID TO BE EASILY STARTLED BY LOUD NOISES. SHE HAD A SENSITIVITY TO BRIGHT LIGHTS AND CERTAIN SMELLS.
SHE WAS DESCRIBED BY HER PARENTS AS OBSESSIVE AT TIMES, BRIGHT IN SOME WAYS, BUT ALSO NAIVE. SHE STRUGGLED WITH HANDLING MONEY. AS WITH MANY PEOPLE ON THE AUTISM SPECTRUM, SHE STRUGGLED IN SOCIAL INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS. SHE WAS OBSESSED ON SOME OCCASIONS WITH OTHER GIRLS IN HER ORBIT. SHE STRUGGLED WITH UNDERSTANDING THE BOUNDARIES NECESSARY IN HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS.
SHE WAS TREATED BY DOCTORS FOR ANXIETY … AN EATING DISORDER THAT IT BECAME CRITICAL AND REQUIRED EMERGENCY TREATMENT … AND WAS IN FACT TREATED TWICE AT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER WHEN SHE EXPRESSED THOUGHTS OF SUICIDE.
HER PARENTS TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT THEY HAD NO IDEA … NO INKLING … THERE WERE NO OBVIOUS SIGNS THAT THEIR DAUGHTER HAD SUCH VIOLENT THOUGHTS. IT WAS A SHOCK WHEN INVESTIGATORS REVEALED THAT IF AUDREY HAD SURVIVED THE ATTACK THAT DAY, SHE HAD PLANNED TO RETURN HOME AND KILL HER FATHER.
THE BIG QUESTION? DID ANY OF HER THERAPISTS -- AND THERE WERE SEVERAL --- DID THEY HAVE ANY IDEA THAT SHE WAS CAPABLE OF CARRYING OUT SUCH A HEINOUS ATTACK? MORE ON THAT IN TOMORROW’S REPORT.
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