The perpetrator of the shooting in an American school had seven firearms

Protesters demand greater gun control in the United States on March 28, 2023, after a shooting that killed six people in a Nashville school, the day before.

Police revealed on Tuesday that the perpetrator of a shooting at a Christian school in Nashville possessed seven firearms and was being treated for psychiatric problems, a cocktail at the heart of many dramas in the United States.

Audrey Hale had legally purchased seven firearms from five local gun shops, local police chief John Drake said at a press conference.

Three pieces of his arsenal, two assault rifles and a pistol, were used Monday morning to sow death within the Covenant School, a small private school located south of the capital of Tennessee.

Audrey Hale, who attended the school as a child, was shot dead by police after killing three 9-year-old students and three school employees, including the principal.< /p>

After describing him as a young woman, law enforcement clarified that he was a 28-year-old transgender person, who used male pronouns to identify himself. describe on the Internet.

The shooter was under the care of a doctor for emotional problems but was completely unknown to the police, said John Drake, without giving further details.

We still have no motive, he said again.

The day before, John Drake had mentioned a targeted attack against the Covenant School, detailed plans of which were found at the attacker's home, and mentioned a possible grudge against this school which defends traditional religious values.

The police chief had also acknowledged the existence of theories around the gender identity of the attacker. We are following all the leads and when we are fixed, we will keep you informed, he added.

Clarifications may come from writings left by Audrey Hale. During a search of his home, the police found a document which they described as a manifesto.

Children from the Covenant School are evacuated after the shooting.

Just before the action, the young shooter had also sent a message to an acquaintance to inform him that something bad was going to happen. One day it will be clearer, wrote Audrey Hale, according to local channel WTVF. I left enough evidence behind me.

His contact, Averianna Patton, had contacted the police at 10:13 a.m. but was only contacted again. after the tragedy.

Almost at the same time, Audrey Hale was breaking into her old school by shooting through a glass door. CCTV footage, released by police, shows a heavily armed figure, with a red scarf over his head, advancing through the building.

Police released video of the incident on Tuesday. #x27;intervention that ended the carnage. Filmed by two officers' body cameras, the footage shows law enforcement advancing through hallways decorated with children's drawings and shooting multiple times at Audrey Hale, who collapses.

He was pronounced dead at 10:27 a.m. Police say he had a large stockpile of ammunition and was prepared to do more harm.

In Nashville, the population was in shock. We've heard of the shootings, but it's different when it's on your doorstep, Stacie Wilford, a nurse who came to pray Monday evening at an improvised altar in memory of the victims, told AFP. .

We are heartbroken, the family of a young victim, Evelyn Dieckhaus, said in a statement, whom they described as a ray of sunshine.

The political class shared this emotion, but was again divided on the role of firearms: Democratic President Joe Biden renewed his call to ban assault rifles, an option rejected by vigorously elected Republicans.

Flowers and soft toys are placed near the Covenant School in tribute to the victims of the massacre.

About 400 million firearms are in circulation in the United States, where in 2020 they caused more than 45,000 deaths by suicide, accident or homicide, according to the latest figures from the Prevention Centers and Disease Control (CDC).

For the first time that year, guns became the number one killer of young people under the age of 19, with 4,368 deaths, ahead of car accidents and overdoses, according to the CDC.

Despite everything, a majority of Americans remain very attached to wearing weapons, in the name of the right to self-defense, and several voices were raised to regret er that there was no armed employee in the school.