Nashville police poised to investigate new leak of Covenant School shooter’s writings

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - For the second time, pages from the writings of the Covenant School shooter have been leaked ahead of a Davidson County judge’s ruling in a lawsuit seeking to have those documents released to the public.

The Tennessee Star, one of the petitioners in the public records case, claims to have several dozen pages from a journal that Metro Nashville police found in the shooter’s car, as well as a suicide note reportedly left behind in the shooter’s home.

On March 27, 2023, six people including three children lost their lives, when the 28-year-old shooter attacked The Covenant School in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville.

According to court filings, MNPD discovered a journal in the shooter’s car during their investigation, as well as close to 20 more journals, a suicide note and a memoir at the shooter’s home.

All those writings became the focus of a lawsuit filed in April of 2023, in which the Star and others asked the court to order the documents released under the Tennessee Public Records Act.

Then in November of 2023, three images from the shooter’s writings were leaked to a conservative political commentator.

That prompted Judge I’Ashea Myles, who is overseeing the public records case, to issue an order attempting to block further leaks.

The incident also led to an MNPD investigation into the source of the leak, in which 10 officers were questioned and eventually reassigned from the department’s Threat Section of the Specialized Investigations Division.

Police also tried interviewing a former MNPD detective who had images of the writings while on the force, but according to the department they could not compel that person’s cooperation, and ultimately police said investigators were unable to determine the source of the leak.

Now, just weeks before Myles is expected to hand down her decision in the case, the Star is reporting new leaks, without publishing any of the actual pages they claim to possess.

MNPD tells WSMV4 Investigates that if what the Star claims is true, that they have 80 pages from the shooter’s journals, Metro police will investigate how that happened and how the Star obtained the writings.

In April of 2024, at the conclusion of a two-day hearing to determine if any of the shooter’s writing should be released, Judge Myles warned against further leaks in the case, threatening to hold anyone releasing more pages in contempt of court.

WSMV4 Investigates contacted Judge Myles’ Chambers, to get the court’s reaction to the leak and ask if the judge was considering holding the Star or anyone else in contempt.

According to the court, any comment by the judge would be made in a case filing.

Attorneys involved in the case tell WSMV4 investigates that they do not expect the leak to have any impact on the court’s reasoning or timing of the decision.

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