The mother of the Nashville school shooter who killed six people was a gun control activist who once urged friends on Facebook to sign a petition to keep firearms out of schools.
Norma Hale shared several posts on social media that showed the shooter did not come from a gun-loving family, making the attack all the more confusing with police yet to release many details about a possible motive.
In a March 8, 2018, Facebook post, Norma Hale shared the petition that stated ‘Keep Guns Out of School’ that appeared to be from the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation. ‘So important!’ Norma Hale added in the caption.
In another post from February 21, 2018, Hale shared another petition from Sandy Hook Promise urging lawmakers to ‘Make Large-Capacity Gun Magazines Illegal.’
However, Hale’s adult child, Audrey Hale, carried out a horrific mass shooting at The Covenant School on Monday morning, March 27.
The 28-year-old, believed to be a former student at the small Christian school, was carrying at least two assault rifles and a handgun, police said.
Hale shot through glass doors to gain access to the school and the footage shared by the police shows Hale walking through the corridors looking for victims.
Apart from calling for gun control, Norma also shared various Facebook posts to praise her two children for various achievements and milestones.
In a January 28, 2019, post, she wrote ‘found this in a devotional book I loaned to Audrey’ with a heart emoji at the end of the sentence and a photo that shows ‘I (love) God’ written on the page.
She also commended her daughter in a March 15, 2017 -Facebook post for impressing one of her college professors at Nossi College of Art and noted the instructor recommended her for an awards competition.
‘So proud of Audrey!’ the mother wrote. She also stated in an August 2015 post that Audrey wrote ‘thank you’ notes to all her professors at the end of her summer semester’ including to one teacher who lost her son in a car accident a year prior.
These were some of her words … ‘Don’t ever let anything or anyone steal your joy. You have a reason and a purpose to be here.’ Hale wrote, adding, ‘Amazing, Dre. I love you.’
