CLAIM: A disheveled room with transgender and NATO flags seen in a widespread photo belonged to the shooter who killed six people at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, this week.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. That image was posted online as far back as 2021 by a Twitter user who shared the image — along with another picture of the room after it had been tidied. That account indicated in tweets this week that the image was being misrepresented.
THE FACTS: Social media users are spreading the image to suggest it shows the bedroom of Audrey Hale, the 28-year-old who killed three adults and three young students at the The Covenant School on Monday.
“>Shooter had NAFO, trans, and socialist flags,” reads one tweet that was also shared on Instagram. “>Targeted Christian school Hmmmmm.”
The picture shows a messy room adorned with pride, transgender and NATO flags, among others. The floor is filled with plastic bags and other belongings and shelves near a window holds various figurines.
But the room did not belong to Hale, who police identified as transgender.
Reverse image searches show the photo has circulated online since at least late 2021.
A Twitter account from an individual who identifies as being in Michigan shared the image on Dec. 16, 2021, along with another photo that shows a tidier version of the same room.
“Before and after,” the user wrote. “I still need to clean out my closet so i can actually organize the mostly folded pile of clothes but I’m mostly done. I have to clean my desk next.”
The account tweeted this week about the claims misidentifying the room as belonging to Hale, saying, “IM GETTING SAM HYDED” — a reference to a long-running hoax in which comedian Sam Hyde is misidentified as the suspect in various shootings.
Police have said Hale was a former student of the school, The Associated Press has reported. No motive has been confirmed by police, but officials said Hale targeted the school, not any particular individual killed in the shooting. Hale was fatally shot by police.
The victims were identified as Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; Mike Hill, 61; and Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, all age 9.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
