Nashville shooter Audrey Hale left heartbroken after her crush died

Nashville school shooter Audrey Hale was ‘heartbroken’ following the 2022 death of a girl she was ‘smitten’ with and who had played on the same basketball team at school.

Samira Hardcastle told the Post that “tomboyish” Hale was deeply affected by the death of Sydney Sims, who was killed in a car accident in August 2022 according to an obituary.

Hardcastle, a classmate of the two girls in middle school and high school, said: “After Sydney’s tragic death, Audrey was really heartbroken about it…I just feel like she took it differently than some of us. She was still posting on Sydney almost daily

“What I knew of her was more admiring (Sydney). Maybe even infatuation. That’s precisely what she really, really admired.

Hale, who police said was transgender and had begun to identify using her pronouns, posted a TikTok in February to a since-deleted account, “iam_aiden10,” dedicated to “Syd.”

The clip showed a shadow of a person bouncing a basketball and the words: “For Syd. I look up, the sky is bright. It’s a beautiful day. I wish you were here…”

Hardcastle said she last saw Audrey – who smashed her way into her old primary school on Monday and killed three nine-year-olds and three staff members – a month ago, when they had both attended a taping of their friend Avieranna Patton’s radio show.

“I don’t think she was with anyone. She was just a little lonely,” Hardcastle said, adding, “I don’t think they were very close, but I think Audrey looked up to her like she looked up to Sydney. But I don’t know if it was ever, like, a two-way thing.

Patton was the last person Hale contacted in the minutes leading up to his shooting, texting him, “This is my last goodbye. Love you…See you in another life.

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She also described Patton as “the most beautiful person I have ever seen and known in my entire life,” adding, “My family doesn’t know what I’m about to do. One day it will make more sense. I left more than enough evidence behind me. But something bad is about to happen.

Hardcastle said Hale was a “tomboy” at school, but didn’t seem to transition until adulthood. She also said she didn’t know Hale had been romantically involved with The Sims.

Maria Colomy, a former teacher at Nossi College of Art & Design in Nashville who taught Hale as an adult, said her transition began around the same time she mourned the loss of a romantic partner, said reported the New York Times.

Hale had written about how he missed the person and frequently posted photos of the pair playing basketball, according to the teacher.

Colomy reportedly said: “She had openly mourned this on social media, and during the mourning was when she announced that she wanted to be treated like a man.”

Nashville Metro Police say they are still looking for a motive why Audrey chose to shoot the private Covenant Christian elementary school she once attended, but recovered a manifesto that she had written before embarking on the frenzy.

Nashville Police Chief John Drake said they are investigating whether Hale’s identity played a role in the massacre.