Tag: Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital

Covenant Killer’s Father Confirmed Vanderbilt University Medical Center ‘Didn’t Tell Us’ About Daughter’s Interest in Columbine

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Ronald Hale, the father of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, confirmed to investigators that Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) did not inform his daughter developed an interest in the April 20, 1999 shooting at the Columbine High School in Colorado, according to a transcript of a July 12, 2023 police interview obtained by The Tennessee Star. 

Police documents obtained by The Star previously established that Audrey Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at VUMC, and Ronald and Norma Hale confirmed their daughter was evaluated for commitment for mental health reasons during three separate incidents, including two at VUMC for suicidal ideation.

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center Silent on Possible Liability, Settlements After Treating Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Prior to Attack

Tom Pappert

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) did not respond to a Monday inquiry from The Tennessee Star that sought to establish whether VUMC took any actions to mitigate any possible financial liabilities that may have resulted from its 22-year treatment of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale.

The Star contacted VUMC about what actions it may have taken to address possible legal liability after publishing the MNPD document, “Vandy Psych,” which contains notes written by an MNPD investigator who secured at least 75 pages of documents about Hale’s treatment at VUMC after obtaining a search warrant.

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Nashville Police Point to Judge I’Ashea Myles When Questioned over Will Mentioned by Covenant Killer Audrey Hale in Suicide Note

Tom Pappert

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) referred The Tennessee Star to the court of Tennessee Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles when asked if the department provided specific documents to Judge Myles before she declared in her decision that not one page of the writings left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale will be released, citing the copyright allegedly held by the parents of Covenant School children.

The Star asked MNPD Public Affairs director Don Aaron whether investigators provided Judge Myles with the document titled “Vandy Psych.” The document contains notes written by an MNPD investigator who received at least 75 pages of documents from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), where Hale was a 22-year mental health patient, after obtaining a search warrant in the wake of her March 27, 2023 attack that claimed the lives of six.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Told Unknown Physician She ‘Felt Close’ to Columbine Massacre, Nashville Police Revealed in 2023 Recording

Tom Pappert
Columbine Shooters

Police investigators told the parents of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale their daughter “felt close” to those who perpetrated the Columbine High School attack in 1999 and created her own version of the Columbine Tapes.

The investigators told the killer’s parents, Ronald Hale and Norma Hale, that their daughter divulged the information to an unknown physician, according to the transcript of a July 12, 2023, interview The Tennessee Star obtained last month.

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Covenant School Killer Had Violent Outburst Prior to Attack Called Emotional ‘Leakage’ by Police During Interview with Parents

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

After the parents of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale described a violent outburst during a police interview, a Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) investigator referred to the incident as “leakage” of “anger,” in a possible reference to the “leakage of intent” researchers say is commonly displayed by mass killers.

The Tennessee Star confirmed last month it obtained the transcript of an MNPD interview with Ronald and Norma Hale, the parents of Audrey Hale, which was recorded on July 12, 2023.

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Was Diagnosed with Five Mental Disorders, Parents Told Nashville Police

Tom Pappert
Covenant School Shooter Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale received medical diagnoses for five mental disorders, her parents Ronald and Norma Hale told Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) investigators on July 12, 2023, according to a transcript of the interview obtained by The Tennessee Star from a source familiar with the investigation.

Ronald and Norma Hale, with the assistance of their attorney, provided the list of mental disorders after MNPD investigators questioned whether Audrey Hale was formally diagnosed with autism.

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Mother of Covenant Killer Told Police She Slept in Sleeping Bag to Block Killer’s Bedroom After Prozac Caused Suicidal Thoughts

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

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 and Norma Hale revealed their daughter avoided inpatient commitment during three separate mental crises.

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Diagnosed with Anxiety Disorder Around 2011, Parents Told Police

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder around 2011, her parents told Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) investigators in a June 12, 2023 interview, according to a transcript obtained by The Tennessee Star from a source familiar with the investigation.

The Star previously reported that police documents revealed Audrey Hale to be a 22-year mental health patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and The Star reported on Sunday that Hale’s parents, Ronald and Norma Hale, first learned of their daughter’s purported autism diagnosis from a speech pathologist in the summer of 2001.

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Began ‘Going Through Testing’ for Mental Health in Summer of 2001, Parents Told Police

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale began receiving treatment from a speech pathologist in September 2001, which is when a mental health professional first indicated to the killer’s parents that Audrey Hale suffered from autism, according to a transcript of the July 12, 2023 police interview with Ronald and Norma Hale obtained by The Tennessee Star from a source close to the investigation.

The Star previously published police documents which established Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) prior to her March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, when she claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adult staff members before she was heroically shot by two responding police officers.

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Outgoing Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital President Created Psychiatric Crisis Evaluation Process Before Covenant Killer Audrey Hale was Referred for Commitment

Tom Pappert
Mary Pawlikowski

The outgoing president of Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital (VPH), part of Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), combined the hospital’s services to patients in psychiatric crisis in 2016, three years before the Covenant School killer was referred to VPH for commitment and instead enrolled in an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP).

The Tennessee Star reported on June 7 that Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) investigators learned within hours of Hale’s March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, which claimed the lives of six, that the killer was a 22-year mental health patient of VUMC.

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Commentary: Court Threatens First Amendment Rights of Tennessee Star After Release of Covenant School Shooting Documents

RealClearWire
Judge I'Ashea L. Myles

The editor-in-chief and publisher of The Tennessee Star was ordered to appear in court last week and threatened with charges of contempt after his newspaper reported on an anonymously leaked collection of documents authored by Nashville mass shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale. Michael Patrick Leahy was joined by his attorneys in court on Monday for a “show-cause hearing,” where the journalist was asked by Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles to demonstrate why his outlet’s reporting does not subject him to contempt proceedings and sanctions.

On March 27, 2023, Hale (born Audrey Elizabeth Hale) entered the Covenant School armed with three semiautomatic guns and murdered six people, including three 9-year-old children. Hale, who was eventually shot and killed by police in the school, was a transgender man and former student at Covenant who harbored extremist sentiments on race, gender, and politics. The massacre remains the deadliest mass shooting in Tennessee history.

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center Started Center to Assist with Mental Health ‘Intervention’ One Day After Covenant School Attack

Tom Pappert
Therapist

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) and Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital announced the creation of its Behavioral Health Clinical Services Center (CSC) on March 28, 2023, just one day after Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale committed her attack that claimed the lives of six, including three children.

The Tennessee Star confirmed it obtained a portion of police documents from the Covenant case earlier this month, including documents that show Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at VUMC who began receiving treatment in 2001 when she was just six years old.

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Vanderbilt University Medical Center Announces New Vice President of Psychiatric Hospital amid Covenant Killer Revelations

Tom Pappert
Tanmay Mathur

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) announced on Monday a new vice president to lead the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, where The Tennessee Star reported earlier this month that Covenant School shooter was a 22-year mental health patient, having begun receiving treatment as a six-year-old in 2001.

A March 14 news release by VUMC announced current Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital president Mary Pawlikowski planned to “retire at the end of the fiscal year,” placing her retirement date on September 30.

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MNPD Subpoenaed Vanderbilt for All Records Related to Treating Covenant Killer Audrey Hale

Tom Pappert
MNPD Vanderbilt

The Tennessee Star has obtained a judicial subpoena sent by a Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) detective to Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) on May 13, 2023, which sought “any and all records of medical and psychological treatment received by Audrey Hale,” who committed the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023 that resulted in six dead.

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Retired MNPD Lieutenant Says Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital Did Not Report Covenant Killer’s Violent Fantasies to Law Enforcement

Kaitlin Housler
Garet Davidson

Retired Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Lt. Garet Davidson told Michael Patrick Leahy, CEO and editor-in-chief of The Tennessee Star, that Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the Covenant School killer, received treatment from the Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital, where professionals failed to report her violent fantasies to law enforcement. Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital is a part of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center system.

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