Six people were killed in seconds. What happened afterward — a years-long legal fight over a set of sealed writings — has become almost as significant a story as the shooting itself.
On the morning of March 27, 2023, a shooter opened fire inside The Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three nine-year-old students and three staff members before being fatally shot by responding police officers.
Who Was Lost
The children killed were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all nine years old. The adult staff members killed were Cynthia Peak, Katherine Koonce, and Mike Hill.
Who Audrey Hale Was
Police identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, a former student of the school. Nashville Police Chief John Drake said at the time that Hale, who police say was assigned female at birth, had identified as transgender. Hale was killed by responding officers inside the building shortly after the attack began. Investigators recovered firearms and a large volume of personal writings — described in court filings as at least 20 journals, a suicide note, and an unpublished memoir — from Hale's vehicle and home.
A Years-Long Legal Battle Over the Writings
In the years since, the central ongoing news story tied to this case hasn't been the shooting itself, but a prolonged legal fight over whether Hale's writings should be made public. Multiple parties — including news organizations, a state senator, and gun rights groups — sued Nashville police for release of the documents under Tennessee's public records law, arguing they could shed light on the motive behind the attack.
A group of Covenant School parents intervened to oppose release, arguing it could retraumatize families and inspire copycat attacks. Hale's parents transferred ownership of Hale's estate, including the writings, to that parent group, which then argued in court that they held copyright over the material.
In July 2024, Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles ruled that the writings could not be released, finding that federal copyright law protecting the parents' group's ownership interest took precedence over Tennessee's public records law. That ruling has been appealed and, as of the most recent reporting, remains contested in court.
Leaks and Disputed Authenticity
Despite the court order, portions of the writings have leaked outside official channels multiple times since late 2023, including pages posted by a conservative commentator and, later, dozens of pages reported on by a Tennessee news outlet that says it received the material from an unnamed source. Neither Nashville police nor Hale's family has confirmed the authenticity of any leaked material through official channels, and separately, at least one fabricated "manifesto" also circulated online and was debunked. Given the material remains under an active legal dispute over its ownership and authenticity, we're not reproducing quoted excerpts here.
A Contested Debate
The case has become a focal point in wider political arguments that remain genuinely unresolved and disputed. Some commentators and elected officials, citing content from the leaked, unverified pages, have argued the attack should be classified as a hate crime targeting a Christian school; law enforcement has never formally investigated or classified the shooting as a hate crime. Others, including some Covenant families, have pushed back on that framing and on the broader push to publicize the writings at all, citing both privacy and copycat-risk concerns. Separately, questions about the significance of Hale's gender identity to the attack's motive remain a subject of ongoing public and media debate, without an official, agreed-upon resolution.
Where Things Stand Now
The appeal over release of Hale's writings remains active in Tennessee courts as of the most recent reporting, and the underlying police investigation file has not been fully released to the public.
Frequently Asked Questions
Have Audrey Hale's writings been officially released?
No. A 2024 court ruling found they're protected under copyright law held by a group of victims' family members, and that ruling remains under appeal.
Was the shooting officially classified as a hate crime?
No. Law enforcement has not formally investigated or classified it as a hate crime, though the question remains a subject of public dispute.
Has any leaked material been officially confirmed as authentic?
No official confirmation has been issued by police or Hale's family for any of the leaked pages; separately, at least one entirely fabricated document has also circulated and been debunked.
Is the case still legally active?
Yes. The public-records appeal over the writings remains ongoing as of the most recent reporting.