Tennessee judge denies release of Covenant School shooter's writings to the public

A Tennessee judge on July 4 denied the release of the Covenant School shooter's writings, stating that doing so might present a security risk to the Nashville private school.

The ruling came in response to Brewer, et al. vs. Metropolitan Government of Nashville, et al., in which several parties, including the National Police Association and Tennessee Firearms Association, sued the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) for access to records related to the Nov. 27, 2023, school shooting that left six dead, including Mike Hill, 61; Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and 9-year-olds Hallie Scruggs, Evelyn Dieckhaus and William Kinney.

"School shootings and violence have unfortunately become commonplace in our society. Access to immediate information has also become a societal expectation which we all share," Davidson County Chancery Court Judge I'Ashea Myles wrote in the 60-page order. "However, there are occasions when this immediate access to and demand for information must be balanced and moderated to safeguard the integrity of our legal system, particularly the criminal legal system."