Federal Student Aid Oversight

Newly released FBI records on the March 27, 2023 Covenant School shooting in Nashville show that attacker Audrey Elizabeth Hale kept detailed financial notes indicating federal student aid funds were the source of money used to buy firearms for the attack. The materials, disclosed after litigation, include more than 100 pages of Hale’s writings outlining her motives for targeting the Christian school, preparations for a school shooting, and a handwritten 'Account Savings Record' that tracks FAFSA/Pell Grant disbursements alongside planned gun purchases. The documents appear to corroborate earlier statements from Hale’s parents to police that she used federal grant money to acquire the weapons used to kill three 9‑year‑old students and three adults.