CV NEWSFEED // On the one year anniversary of the March 27, 2023 Covenant School shooting, some are questioning why federal investigators have continued to withhold information regarding the shooter and her motives.
Last week marked the one year anniversary of the day Audrey Hale infiltrated Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee armed with two assault weapons and a handgun killing three nine-year old students and three staff members. In light of the occasion, Terry Mattingly, founder and host of the GetReligion Podcast explored in a March 28 episode, titled ‘What’s the Story?’ why media coverage of the tragic event has included so little information about Hall.
Responding to media coverage of the anniversary from the Tennessean, Mattingly pointed out that “there was no named shooter and no investigations into why Hale did what she/he did.” The most prominent angle taken in this case has been gun control, he added.
“The coverage focused on lots of important news angles in the overarching story,” Mattingly wrote. “But why ignore the shooter’s motives and the controversial and mysterious Hale documents? What are the core issues that journalists are striving to avoid?”
According to local coverage of the tragic event, Police initially referred to Hale as a woman, and revealed that she had been a former student at the school. “Police have given unclear information on Hale’s gender,” the report stated. “For hours Monday, police identified the shooter as a woman. At a late afternoon press conference, the police chief said Hale was transgender.”
“I think it’s pretty clear at this point that the disinterest is because no one wants to talk about the health issues and the mental health issues in the life of shooter Audrey Hale, who had already begun transition into her status as a trans male,” said Mattingly.
“No one is interested in what medications she was on,” he continued, “even though there are a lot of questions that could be raised” regarding whether Hale had begun taking hormone shots at the time of the shooting.
“The first major side effect of testosterone for a female attempting to transition into being a male is mood swings, aggression, anger, and potential violence,” he said.
Beyond the lack of concern for issues regarding Hale’s gender and mental health, Mattingly pointed out that the press has also appeared indifferent towards the status of the investigation, which has resulted in the FBI stalling on its release of Hall’s manifesto.
Federal investigators discovered Hale’s manifesto and diaries upon raiding her family home, where they also found four additional weapons. Despite pressure from victims’ families and lawmakers to release the evidence to the public, the FBI has thus far dodged complaints about the journals claiming that they are being used as evidence in an ongoing investigation.
A judge recently ordered the FBI to submit the documents to the court for review. A decision regarding whether to release Hale’s writings will be made at a hearing on April 16 and 17.
Hale’s parents, Norma, 61, and Ronald, 64, have declined to comment or answer questions of any kind regarding their daughter’s identity or actions.
