The Nashville mayor’s office on Monday called on the city’s legal team to investigate the possible unauthorized release of the writings of a shooter who opened fire at the private Nashville school in March, killing three children and three adults before being fatally shot by police.
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell issued the statement shortly after YouTuber Steven Crowder released on his Louder With Crowder show what he said were three images of Audrey Hale’s writings from the day of the shooting.
“I am deeply concerned with the safety, security, and well-being of the Covenant families and all Nashvillians who are grieving,” O’Connell said.
Photo: AP
The Metro Nashville Police Department said that the images Crowder presented were not “crime scene images” and that it was working with Nashville’s legal department in the investigation.
Authorities have not disclosed any of Hale’s journals or writings that were collected after the March 27 shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville.
The shooter left behind at least 20 journals, a suicide note and a memoir, court filings showed.
Police initially said that they would release the documents, but only after an investigation was officially closed.
In response, groups seeking the documents filed a lawsuit arguing that as the suspect was dead, the records should be immediately released.
Police then reversed course, saying that because of the lawsuits they would await the direction of the court on whether to release Hale’s writings.
That lawsuit is ongoing.
Hale seemed to identify as a transgender man.
The documents Crowder showed included apparent motives for Hale’s actions.
Wally Dietz, Nashville’s law director, said in a statement that he was launching the investigation, but said he could not immediately confirm nor deny the authenticity of the documents due to the limited information surrounding the “possible leak.”
Attorneys representing families with the Covenant School have repeatedly said they have not seen Hale’s writings.
Brent Leatherwood, whose three children attend Covenant School, challenged Crowder and anyone who would amplify the images online to “just be a human for once,” and stop seeking clicks or platform building.
Leatherwood told reporters that the writings have the ability to inspire further attacks.
“How many people have to be killed in a senseless way so that you can get clicks?” he asked.
Leatherwood said he received telephone calls from parents.
“The damage done today is already significant and I’m afraid it’s only going to grow,” he said.
In May, a chancery court judge ruled that a group of more than 100 Covenant families could intervene in the case.
The families say they do not want the police records to be made public, arguing the records would only cause more pain and possibly spark copycats.
An appeals court is now weighing whether that judge acted within the law.
Police have said Hale had been planning the massacre for months.
Hale fired 152 rounds during the attack before being killed by police.
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