Covenant School shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale reportedly used funds from a federal Pell Grant to buy the guns she used to perpetrate a mass shooting in March 2023.
99.7 WTN afternoon radio host Brian Wilson reported Wednesday that Hale “took money from an education grant she received to purchase her weapons and to pay for training at a local gun range.”
Hale purchased seven guns, three of which were recovered from the Covenant School after she died during an encounter with Metro Nashville Police Department officers, police said at the time in a post to X. She killed six people, including three children.
Hale fired a number of rounds inside the Covenant Church/School building. She was armed with these 3 guns and significant ammunition. pic.twitter.com/3LYOU2r0sh
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) March 28, 2023
Four more guns, including a sawed-off shotgun and a second shotgun, among other items, were recovered by police at Hale’s parents’ home in the Belmont-Hillsboro neighborhood, MNPD said in a news release the day of the shooting.
The Tennessee Star emailed MNPD to ask if it would provide information regarding the make and model of the guns Hale owned, where they were purchased, and what they cost. MNPD declined to answer, saying that “materials included in the open investigative file are protected.”
However, a source provided The Star with a list of Hale’s weapons and other items recovered at the scene of the crime. Below is the list accompanied by approximate prices of each weapon and accessory:
1.    SMITH & WESSON M&P SHIELD 9 9MM PISTOL SN: NKN8970 [$519]
2.    LEAD STAR GRUNT-15 RIFLE W/ MAGAZINE MULTI-CAL SN: SG05222 [$849]
3.    KELTEC SUB2000 RIFLE W/MAGAZINE + W/STRAP [$578]
4.    126) LC 21 [5.56] CARTRIDGE CASES [$93.24]
5.    (23) SIG 9MM LUGER CARTRIDGE CASES [$10.58]
6.    (3) WIN 9MM LUGER CARTRIDGE CASES [$9.20]
7.    (4) LC 16 CARTRIDGE CASES [not found]
8.    (4) WIN 9MM LUGER CARTRIDGE CASES [$1.60]
9.    (1) PROJECTILE W/ HAIR + RED FIBERS FROM SMITH & WESSON M&P #NKN8970 [$110]
10.  (10) PROJECTILES FROM WINDOW
11. (4) COPPER FRAGMENTS FROM MNPD VEHICLES
12.  (19) COPPER FRAGMENTS
13.  (3) LC 21 LIVE CARTRIDGES FROM EM81 – LEAD STAR RIFLE #SG05222 [not found]
14.  (7) SIG 9MM LUGER LIVE CARTRIDGES FROM EM82 – KEL TEC SUB2000 #FG6F97 [$3.22]
15.  (5) WIN 9MM LUGER LIVE CARTRIDGES [$2]
16.  14) 9MM LUGER LIVE CARTRIDGES (MIXED BRANDS) [$6.44]
17.  TAN GLOCK EXTENDED MAGAZINE (9MM) W/ (30) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES [$17.99 (mag) $14.80 (bullets)]
18.  SMITH & WESSON M&P SHIELD 9EZ MAGAZINE W/ (8) 9MM LUGER LIVE CARTRIDGES [$29.99 (mag) $13.80 (bullets)]
19.  PMAG 30 5.56 MAGAZINE [$14.95]
20.  PMAG 30 5.56 MAGAZINE [$14.95]
21.  40-ROUND PMAG 5.56 MAGAZINE [$22.95]
22.  9MM MAGAZINE W/ (17) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES [$42.99 (mag) $7.82 (bullets)]
23.  SMITH & WESSON M&P 9MM SHIELD 9EZ MAGAZINE W/ (8) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES [$32.99 (mag) $3.68 (bullets)]
24.  PMAG 15 (MAGAZINE – 9MM) W/ (15) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES [$14.95 (mag) $6.90 (bullets)]
25.  CLEAR ETSGROUP.US 9MM MAGAZINE W/ (9) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES (ALL FC) [$23.25 (mag) $4.14 (bullets)]
26. PMAG 17 (MAGAZINE – 9MM) W/ (17) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES [$28.99 (mag) $7.82 (bullets)]
27.  PMAG 17 (MAGAZINE – 9MM) W/ (17) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES [$28.99 (mag) $7.82 (bullets)]
28. PMAG 17 (MAGAZINE – 9MM) W/ (17) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES [$28.99 (mag) $7.82 (bullets)]
29. 9MM EXTENDED MAGAZINE W/ (34) 9MM LIVE CARTRIDGES [$22.99 (mag) $15.64 (bullets)]
30. TAN MFT 5.56 MAGAZINE W/ (20) LIVE CARTRIDGES [$12.99 (mag) $9.20 (bullets)]
The three guns alone—each currently valued at $519, $849, and $578—would cost an estimated total $1,946. The total estimated cost of the weapons and accessories on the list is $2,619.68.
The Star sent an email inquiry to Nossi College of Art in Nashville, from which Hale graduated, asking whether Nossi awarded Hale with financial aid or assisted her in applying for federal aid or a loan, but the school did not respond by press time.
“At Nossi, financial aid is available for those who qualify and may include Federal Pell Grants, Direct Loan Programs, Social Security and United States Department of Veterans Affairs programs, Tennessee Student Assistant Awards, and Federal Direct (Parent) PLUS loans,” the school says to students on its website. “The college’s financial aid office is happy to assist you in applying for federal aid.”
Wilson’s report called the money Hale received an “education grant,” meaning Hale received a federal Pell grant as it is the only “grant” listed on Nossi’s financial aid page.
The maximum amount one can receive from a Pell grant can change from year to year, but as of the 2024-2025 school year, students can receive a maximum of $7,395 for a school year, according to the Federal Student Aid office’s website. That amount is determined by how much a student’s parents are expected to contribute to the cost of college, the information a student puts on their FAFSA form, whether a student is attending school full time, and how long they plan to attend.
According to a transcript obtained by The Tennessee Star of an interview of Hale’s parents by police, Hale began to use her own income to fill out her FAFSA forms when she turned 25, according to her parents. This likely would have been 2020, considering Hale was born in 1995.
Hale’s parents suggest that she filled out at least one FAFSA form using her parents’ income. Assuming Hale completed a four-year degree and considering she graduated in 2022, she likely began taking classes at Nossi in 2018.
Students can continue to receive Pell grants yearly until they receive their degree or until their eligibility runs out. Pell grants can be applied to a student’s cost by the school or be given to a student directly.
Hale’s parents, Ronald and Norma Hale, have said that Audrey controlled the grant money she received in a savings account.
Ronald and Norma Hale told Metro Nashville Police Department investigators that several years earlier, Audrey had purchased a gun without their knowledge. When they learned about the gun, they required her to sell it and were convinced that Audrey had, indeed, sold the gun.
The Pell grant program was authorized by Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965 and provided $26 billion in aid to about 6.1 million undergraduate students in 2021, the Congressional Research Service reported. It is “the single largest source of federal grant aid” supporting college students, the report continued.
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Matthew Giffin is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Matthew on X/Twitter.
Where in the Constitution is the legitimate authority to provide taxpayer money to students or colleges? Just like there is no authority to give money to other nations, or NGOs for any purpose. The purpose of taxation is to fund the legitimate and constitutional obligations of the government. State governments can do for their citizens what those state constitutions allow. James Madison wrote in Federalist 45 that powers of the federal government are few and defined. The powers belonging to the state governments are numerous and indefinite. We would be so much better off if people were adequately educated .
Guaranteed she was coached on how to get that grant. More government in action.
How come none of the perverts who put it in her head that she was a he haven’t been charged with child abuse and accessories to a mass murder? She for sure wouldn’t have popped her cork if she had remained a normal girl the way God created her to be.
Do we get to see the manifesto now?
So, the Pell Grants and federal government are criminally and civilly responsible for the shooting? I mean, that makes as much or more sense than claiming the manufacturer of the tool being responsible, right?
All should be asking why the Police Chief did not have all the serial #’s of the firearms recorded and sent to the ATF Tracing Center which has a very good record of tracing the sale of each firearm. This tracing would also expose who filled out the Federal 4473 form and may expose straw purchases of said firearms.
Why is this type of information kept from the public?
Why did the Police Chief not do this?
Starting to look like a very big cover-up involving politicians, Police Brass and others.
Of course, somehow the rank and file will get the blame.
Needs to be some accountability.
It’s interesting how some stories just fade away from the MSM. Others like Jan6 and anything Trump, have a life that never ends.
So, our government funded the horrible event.
Another example of why student loans should not be forgiven. Much of the money goes to buying personal items, eating out, entertainment, and vacations
Why in the hell are the funds paid to the student and not to the school?
Pell Grants are one of the most wasteful uses of taxpayer dollars. The recipient only has to attend class for a very short period of time then can walk away with cash in their pocket. But Pell Grants are a sacred cow because they serve the “underprivileged”. Baloney.