Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, of Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee, United States played basketball when he was in middle school. Between October 20, 2020 and June 6, 2022, he legally purchased seven weapons, which he hid at home.

Hale lived in Nashville with his parents Ronald E. Hale, 64, and Norma Fort Hale, 62. Born biologically female, Audrey took to social media in 2022 to ask people to refer to him by male pronouns and the name Aiden.

Sydney Sims

After graduating from the Nashville School of Arts, Audrey attended the Nossi College of Art in Nashville from 2014 to 2022. One of his basketball teammates in middle school was Sydney Sims, who died in a car crash in Nashville on August 20, 2022.

Audrey took to Facebook to post about Sims’ death. The former attended the unveiling of a painting dedicated to the latter in February 2023.

“For Syd,” Audrey captioned a TikTok video of herself silently bouncing a ball. “I look up the sky is bright. It’s a beauty day. I wish you were here.”

Averianna The Personality

Professionally known as Averianna The Personality, radio host Paige A. Patton, 28, of Nashville is also one of the basketball teammates of Audrey in middle school. After middle school, the two did not regularly communicate with each other.

On the morning of March 27, 2023, Audrey drove a Honda Fit to The Covenant School in Green Hills, Nashville. At 9:57 a.m., he sent a private Instagram message to Patton saying, “This is my last goodbye.”

“I love you,” Audrey continued. “See you again in another life. You are the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen and known all my life. My family doesn’t know what I’m about to do. One day this will make more sense. I’ve left more than enough evidence behind. But something bad is about to happen.”

At 10:13 a.m., Audrey entered The Covenant School with a pistol and two assault-style rifles. He fatally shot teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, custodian Michael “Mike” Hill, 61, school head Katherine Koonce, 60, and students Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9, Hallie Scruggs, 9, and William Kinney, 9.

Five Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers including Michael Collazo, 31, and Rex Engelbert, 27, responded to the scene. At 10:27 a.m., Collazo and Engelbert fatally shot Audrey.

Sims’ twin sister Taylor Sims, 28, is asking people to stop attaching the tragedy to Sydney’s name. In a private Instagram message obtained by Daily Mail, Taylor wrote, “This is very sick and just goes to show people talk. Please leave my sister out of it.”