Nashville Shooter Audrey Hale Allegedly 'Hunting' Pastor Whose Daughter She Killed

The 28-year-old Nashville shooter was allegedly looking for the pastor with whom she had one-on-one counseling. Audrey Hale then decided to kill the pastor's daughter when she could not find him.

The Telegraph reported that former pastor Jim Bachmann told Inside Edition that Hale was having private sessions with pastor Chad Scruggs before going on a shooting rampage at the Covenant School.

Bachmann noted that the Nashville shooter seemed to be "searching the school" for Scruggs, the lead pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church. The church is affiliated with the school.

Scruggs had been at a presbytery planning meeting during the attack. He then received a phone alert about an active shooting, as cited by a fellow church leader.

Bachmann speculated that Hale would have left the pastor's daughter alone if she had been able to find Scruggs. Hale was a former student of the school, prompting police to probe whether the Nashville shooter harbored "resentment" towards the school.

Bachmann noted that Scruggs' daughter, Hallie, was "very normal" and liked to play kickball with the boys.

Nashville Shooter 'Hunting' Pastor

Despite earlier claims of Jim Bachmann that he believed Audrey Hale was receiving counseling from the pastor, he retracted back his statement.

Bachmann later told the New York Post that "he had been mistaken," saying that he realized that "they were not counseling, actually." The former pastor noted that he thinks there was some confusion as Hale had those counseling years earlier.

Bachmann said he received several messages from different people that there was no counseling, and Chad Scruggs "didn't even know her." He then confirmed that Covenant representatives reached out to him to tell him that he was wrong.

Bachmann said he had been "influenced by social media" and the way he saw the released surveillance footage released by the police. The pastor's daughter was among the children killed in the Nashville school shooting. The younger victims were all nine years old.

Nashville School Shooting

Metro Nashville Police Department Chief John Drake noted that Audrey Hale had been under care for an "emotional disorder," The law enforcement revealed that the Nashville shooter had left behind writings, which suggested that the shooting had been planned before the execution.

Hale's former grade school basketball teammate, Averianna Patton, received a series of messages from the Nashville shooter minutes before the attack.

Patton is known to be a Nashville radio host. She noted that Hale wrote to her that she was "planning to die today." CNN reported that they had not been in contact for years until she received the Instagram direct message.

The Nashville shooter added in the messages that "one day this will make more sense," as she has managed to leave more than enough evidence behind.

Hale then warned that something "bad is about to happen." Patton then called the suicide prevention line and the police. It was the same time when the department received its first 911 call about an active school shooter.

Authorities identified the victims as Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9; Hallie Scruggs, 9; William Kinney, 9; Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61.

Koonce was a headmistress, Peak was a substitute teacher, and Hill was a chef.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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