An unnerving chase through school halls as sirens of varying decibels blared in the background ended under a large cathedral-like window at Nashville's Covenant School on Monday. Body camera footage of two officers released by the Nashville Police Department shows the moment that 28-year-old Audrey Hale was shot dead after killing six people, including three children.
On entering the school, officers are informed by teachers standing outside that the shooter was on the first floor. Officer Michael Collazo then proceeds to make a tense journey towards the shooter through a maze of corridors.
The blaring alarms and urgent commands by officers are suddenly interrupted by loud gunshots. The officers rush towards the sound, running past a body that lay on the floor of the corridor.
At the end of the hallway, a partially ajar door leads to a well-lit opening where Audrey Hale shoots their assault rifles while backed into a corner.
Nine shots later, Hale is on the floor of their former school. Officers shout, "Stop moving. Get your hand away from the gun. Suspect down."
Armed with at least two assault rifles and a handgun, Hale had entered The Covenant School, a Christian academy, from a side entrance, allegedly shooting through a door -- firing multiple shots while advancing through the building, according to police.
Police identified the six victims, saying one of the three children was eight years old and two were age nine, while the adults killed were aged 60 to 61.
School shootings are alarmingly common in the United States, where the proliferation of firearms has soared in recent years. There have been 129 mass shootings -- defined as incidents in which four or more people were shot or killed -- so far this year, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive.
President Joe Biden described the latest shooting as "sick" and said gun violence was tearing the nation's "soul," as he urged Congress to pass a ban on the assault weapons often used in mass shootings.
