Ex-Nashville police officer makes explosive claim about psychiatric care of Covenant school killer

A retired Nashville-area police officer alleges that a psychologist who treated shooting in the 2023 Covenant School massacre referred her to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center psychiatric department before the killings.

The claim was made by Tuesday by retired Metro Nashville Police Department Lt. Garet Davidson.

He said that shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale, 28, killed by police in the incident, was referred to the medical center for treatment after she had fantasies about violence, according to a report from the Tennessee Star. 

Three 9-year-old students and three Covenant faculty members died in the shooting.

“There was communication, I believe, from the therapist to [Vanderbilt] Psych, and some of those records probably were shared," Davidson said. "And [Vanderbilt] Psych records showed specific ideations, fantasies about mass shootings, doing that at the school." 

Hale was a former Covenant student.