"Don Aaron, a spokesperson for the Metro Nashville Police Department, said the female shooter entered The Covenant School on Burton Hills Boulevard with two rifles and a handgun."UPDATE: 3 students & 3 adult staff members from Covenant School were fatally shot by the active shooter, who has now been identified as a 28-year-old Nashville woman.
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 27, 2023
The 28-year-old shooter who killed three children and three adults at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tenn., on Monday had been under the care of a doctor for an “emotional disorder,” police said.
Nashville Metro Chief John Drake told reporters on Tuesday that Audrey Elizabeth Hale “was under care — doctor’s care — for an emotional disorder,” but did not disclose further details about the nature of that disorder. Hale was killed by police on scene.
“Law enforcement knew nothing about the treatment she was receiving. But her parents felt that she should not own weapons,” Drake said.
The shooter was initially described by police as a teenager and then as a 28-year-old white woman. It was later revealed that Hale was transgender, though police have referred to the shooter by gender assigned at birth.
Police also revealed that Hale had purchased seven firearms at five different local gun stores — all legally. Hale’s parents told police they knew Hale had bought and sold one weapon, but were apparently unaware that Hale had been hiding additional weapons at home.
People undergoing female to male gender-affirming testosterone treatment are likely to experience increased aggression — which may be worse if their periods persist.
Creating characteristic male features in people who are transitioning requires testosterone. Increased testosterone has previously been linked to increased aggressive behavior, but has not been widely investigated in trans people.
To find out more, Giovanna Motta at the University of Turin, Italy, and her colleagues evaluated 52 transmen with an average age of 28, before and at least 7 months after they began receiving testosterone treatment.
Testosterone is given with the aim of achieving concentrations that lie within the physiological male range. This reduces secondary female characteristics — it shrinks the breasts and stops menstrual periods, for instance, while simultaneously increasing male features, such as deepening of the voice and altered muscle distribution.
The team assessed varying aspects of aggressive behavior in their participants, including how often angry feelings are experienced over time, who or what those angry feelings are expressed against, and how they are cooled or controlled.
During the 7-month testosterone treatment, anger expression and anger control both increased. Specifically, there was a significant change in the feelings of anger towards other persons or objects and towards themselves.
The authors of the study say it’s important to note, however, that despite the increase in anger expression, there were no reports of aggressive behavior, self-harm, or psychiatric hospitalization.
They suggest that the increase in anger control may be due to an improved ability to control angry feelings by calming down, possibly because the treatment itself produces greater self-confidence. Regular psychotherapy sessions that monitor the impact of hormonal treatments might also have prevented the onset of aggressive behavior.
Interestingly, participants whose menstrual bleeding continued despite hormone treatment were more likely to feel and express anger in an uncontrolled way compared with those who achieved amenorrhea – one or more missed periods.