The mother of Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale told police investigators her daughter first experienced suicidal thoughts when prescribed the antidepressant Prozac as a high school student, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by The Tennessee Star from a source familiar with the investigation.
Last month, The Star reported that police documents confirmed Audrey Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Another portion of the transcript of the police interview with Ronald Hale and Norma Hale revealed their daughter avoided inpatient commitment during three separate mental crises.
While the parents told the Metro Nashville Police Department their daughter twice expressed suicidal ideation that resulted in immediate evaluation at VUMC, they explained that Audrey Hale first experienced suicidal thoughts as a teenager.
Norma Hale explained, “she did have suicidal ideation when she was a sophomore in high school,” when she explained a psychiatrist “put her on Prozac.”
Prozac is from the family of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which the Food and Drug Administration warns could cause or worsen suicidal thoughts or ideation in teens and adolescents.
“So she had it,” Norma Hale said.
Audrey Hale’s mother confirmed, “you know, she was going to jump off a bridge onto I-440. She said that.”
Norma Hale told police investigators she became concerned her daughter would follow through with the fantasy and began sleeping in front of her bedroom door to keep Audrey Hale in the family home.
She explained, “Before we got her off the medication, I would sleep on a sleeping bag in front of her door just to make sure that she did not leave the room. And then she was okay.”
Ronald and Norma Hale explained that Audrey Hale “had to go through a series of medications to find one that was appropriate for her.”
Specifically, Ronald Hale and Norma Hale jointly revealed their daughter was also prescribed Abilify, also known as Aripiprazole, which was created to treat schizophrenia and later determined to help treat some types of depression.
Ronald Hale explained to the investigators Audrey Hale experienced “pretty serious side effects” from the various medications, telling them, “both of her legs ballooned.” Norma Hale then stated the swelling was caused by Abilify.
Norma Hale and Ronald Hale signified their daughter was not prescribed these medications during her March 27, 2023, attack on the Covenant School, where she claimed the lives of three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members.
Citing police photographs and documents, The Star previously reported that Audrey Hale was prescribed the anti-anxiety drugs Lorazepam, Buspirone and Hydroxyzine, a nasal spray, and the antidepressant Lexapro.
Though Audrey Hale identified as a transgender man and used the name Aiden at the time of her attack on the Covenant School, VUMC has not confirmed whether the killer sought or received transgender treatment.
Both Star News Digital Media, Inc., which owns and operates The Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy are plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuits seeking the full release of Audrey Hale’s writings, including those some call a manifesto, from the MNPD and the FBI.
Last month, The Star published an FBI memo sent to MNPD Chief John Drake in May 2023, which “strongly” advised against releasing “legacy tokens” from killers like Audrey Hale. An FBI definition suggests the agency considers both the documents obtained by The Star and those sought in the lawsuits unfit for public release.
The FBI declined to confirm that it sent the memo in a statement to The Star but confirmed that it sends such “products” to local law enforcement.
Since it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings and a tranche of police documents, The Star has published more than 60 articles that include the killer’s words or provide new details about the Covenant investigation.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
