Trans Nashville school shooter appears in eerie college graduation video smiling trends now

Transgender Nashville school shooter with 'high-functioning autism,' Audrey Hale, 28, has been seen talking about her 'growth as an artist' as police reveal she'd drawn a cartoon-like massacre manifesto detailing her twisted plan.

Hale shot and killed three nine-year-old students and three staff members at The Covenant School in Green Hills on Monday in what police are calling a 'targeted attack.'

Eerie footage of Hale's college graduation, posted in June 2022, and a short interview of the art school's 'Senior Portfolio Show' posted July that same year - reveal the deranged killer portraying a seemingly happy persona as she talked about her 'growth as an artist.' 

The 28-year-old was seen smiling as she walked on stage at her college graduation - a stark contrast to the emotionless surveillance footage of Hale stalking the halls of her old school.

In the first video at the Spring 2022 Senior Portfolio Show at Nossi College of Art in Nashville Hale said the process of becoming an artist had been hard but worth it. 

'It's been hard but it's also been an amazing experience when it comes to developing my creative talents and growing as an artist,' she said.

The second video, shows Hale beaming as she graduated from the art college in a promotional video for the school.

Early Tuesday, Chief of Nashville Police John Drake told CBS Mornings that while the investigation was still ongoing 'resentment for having to go to that school' is the most plausible motive that's surfaced.

'I can't go deeply into that because its unconfirmed,' he said.

Drake added that Hale's massacre manifesto revealed her penchant for the arts as she drew deranged images detailing her plan.

'So we have a manifesto - we have a booklet that shows exactly what she had planned to do. We have maps that showed the entry point into the school, the weapons that she was going to use, the clothing that she was going to wear. She had drawn it up almost like a cartoon character,' he said. 

'It was exactly what she had on during this incident and she was a previous student she had connections there.'

The Nashville police chief again stressed that the attack felt 'targeted.'

'The head of the school was assassinated in the hallway, so we feel like it was targeted and planned,' he said.

 'It's so unfortunate as this investigation continues - the kids [also seem like they] were obviously targeted.

'Praise go out to the men and women, the two officers that went into the school, because we could have had far more casualties than what we had.'

Drake said that the response which took place 14 minutes after Hale had first arrived on school grounds as well as thorough training saved lives.

'They immediately responded, went inside addressed and mitigated the suspect. And I give the school credit as well because, for some reason, the alarm was going off - the fire alarm - so there weren't any kids in the hallway,' he said. 

'So I think they'd gone through some type of training I found out more about that today but they played a great role as well and prevented more lives being lost.'

A source close to the Hale family told The Daily Beast on Monday night that Hale was autistic, but high-functioning.

'And relatively recently announced she was transgender, identifying as he/him,' the source said.

While police initially described the suspect as a 28-year-old white woman, a LinkedIn profile, which the source confirmed to The Daily Beast as belonging to Hale, listed he/him pronouns. 

Drake said at a press conference Monday afternoon that Hale was transgender.

A search of Hale's home turned up 'maps drawn of the school, in detail, so, surveillance, entry points, et cetera,' Drake said. 

Inside a Honda Fit that Hale drove and parked at the school campus Friday morning, cops found 'additional material written by Hale,' police said in a tweet. 

The 28-year-old who opened fire at a Nashville school on

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