Yahoo Movies Fact check: Posts falsely link edited photo of comedian to Nashville school shooting
The claim: Image shows Nashville shooter, Samantha Hyde
A March 27 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) features a picture of a blonde woman holding a gun.
"BREAKING: Nashville Police have positively identified the corpse of the suspected Nashville Covenant School shooter as 31 year old Samantha Hyde," reads text within the post.
The Instagram post, a screenshot of a tweet, garnered more than 100 likes in two days, while the original tweet garnered more than 4,000 likes in the same amount of time.
Similar posts have been shared on Instagram and Facebook.
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Our rating: False
The post shows an edited picture of a comedian who has been repeatedly, and falsely, linked to mass shootings for years. The Nashville shooter was identified as Audrey Hale.
Post features meme, not shooter
A shooter was confronted and killed by police after killing three students and three staff members at a Christian elementary school in Nashville on March 27.
The person in the viral post is not the shooter, however.
The image is an edited photo of comedian Sam Hyde, who has been falsely linked to mass shootings and other international crises since at least 2015.
USA TODAY previously debunked claims that Hyde was the "Ghost of Kyiv" and a vigilante who shot down a Chinese spy balloon, while other independent fact-checkers have debunked claims that Hyde was the perpetrator of the 2020 Beirut explosion and the original spreader of COVID-19.
Fact check roundup: What's true and what's false about the mass school shooting in Uvalde, Texas
Police identified the shooter as 28-year-old Audrey Hale, who police said identified as transgender and used male pronouns on social media. Hale doesn't physically resemble Hyde, according to a photograph published by ABC News.
Footage of Hale walking around inside the school was provided to USA TODAY by law enforcement.
USA TODAY reached out to the Instagram user who shared the post for comment. The Twitter user couldn't be contacted.
The claim has been debunked by PolitiFact, the Associated Press, Reuters and Lead Stories as well.
Our fact-check sources:
USA TODAY, March 28, Covenant School shooting in Nashville: 3 children, 3 adults dead; victims' names released
USA TODAY, March 29, Tennessee Gov. Lee, wife close friends with victim; bodycam footage shows police confronting Nashville shooter: Updates
USA TODAY, March 7, 2022, Fact check: Claim that Sam Hyde is the 'Ghost of Kyiv' is a hoax
USA TODAY, Feb. 7, Fact check: False claim a vigilante shot down the Chinese spy balloon
ABC News, March 27, Who was Nashville shooter Audrey Hale?
FactCheck.org, Jan. 27, 2020, Comedian Sam Hyde Not 'Behind' Spread of Coronavirus
PolitiFact, Aug. 5, 2020, Running internet prank ties US comedian to Beirut blast
The New York Times, Nov. 6, 2017, Sam Hyde and Other Hoaxes: False Information Trails Texas Shooting
PolitiFact, March 28, Another false 'Sam Hyde' meme circulates after Nashville, Tennessee, shooting
Associated Press, March 28, Posts falsely identify photos as Nashville school shooter
Reuters, March 28, Fact Check-Photos misidentifying the Nashville school shooter circulate on social media
Lead Stories, March 27, Fact Check: 'Samantha Hyde' Was NOT Identified As Suspected Shooter In Nashville -- It's Another 'Sam Hyde Is The Shooter' Hoax
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Comedian falsely linked to Nashville shooting
