Nashville shooter sent a former classmate messages moments before attack

Averianna Patton is thought to be one of the last people Audrey Hale messaged before the shooting.

On Monday morning, Ms Patton received a message on Instagram from her former classmate, who sounded depressed and desperate.

"She said that I would see her on the news later on… and something tragic was about to happen," Ms Patton told BBC News.

She immediately called the local sheriff's office.

"I just jumped into the mode of trying to call around and make sure I was doing everything that I could," she said.

Within minutes, Hale attacked the Covenant School, killing three nine-year-old pupils and three staff members.

"I later found out that this was not a game, this was not a joke, it was [Hale] who did this," she said. "It's just been very, very heavy."

Ms Patton said that police came to her home that afternoon to review the messages from Hale.

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around what we're going through as a city and trying to find solutions to prevent this from happening again," she said.