NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A three-judge panel in the appeals court will decide a future path for the Covenant school shooter's documents.
This case has sat in limbo since a chancery court judge decided in May that the Covenant School families should get to testify on how releasing documents related to the shooting would affect them. The mass shooting happened March 27, where six people — including three nine-year-olds — died at The Covenant School. The shooter also died after being confronted by police.
Five different groups have asked the court to release all the documents Metro Police obtained from the shooter. All five — the Tennessee Firearms Association, National Police Association, the Tennessee Star, The Tennessean newspaper, and Sen. Todd Gardenhire — have argued continuously for the release of all the documents. And those petitioners were the reason why the case went to an appeals court.
The position of the Covenant families and survivors is they want to keep the records closed from the public.
What was argued today? To hear from NewsChannel 5's Hannah McDonald on the ground, watch the video above.
The panel of judges heard oral arguments for those who represent the five petitioners, the church, the school and the Metro government.
The two are arguing this point: does the Tennessee Public Records Act allow for parties to intervene?
Those petitioning for the shooter's documents said Covenant families do not have that right. "Third parties don’t have standing or jurisdiction on their claims," said public records attorney Paul Krog. "Intervention is far more disruptive."
Krog further argued the Tennessee Public Records Act called for a streamlined process and that allowing anyone to intervene would make it complicated.
However, the families and the church saw it from a different perspective. Before this hearing, two dozen proclamations were filed to the court from the families, explaining the trauma their children had suffered. All six homicide victims' families wrote a proclamation.
"This case is life and death," Covenant families' attorney Eric Osborne said. "I don’t say that lightly. We had a comprehensive record where the parents submitted 25 proclamations to the court. I can’t do justice to those declarations since March 27. We entered declarations of prior school shootings. We are covering things that parents fear deeply. If the shooter's writings are released, children may harm themselves. That’s the personal stake."
Metro Legal said it represented the Metro Nashville Police Department, and after the investigation concluded, those documents would be released. But attorney Lora B. Fox said there wasn't any harm in hearing from those families, and she wasn't the one representing them on the case.
"I agree that it is not a situation that every request becomes a two-year process," Fox said. "I have been at Metro 23 years and only four became lawsuits out of requests. It’s not going to slow down the process, but when there is an important interest in protecting private information. I am the government attorney. I don’t represent the school or the church. We have a conflict we are taking because at the end of the investigation that under existing case law the criminal investigation becomes a public record. But they should be heard."
According to the clerk at the appeals court, a decision by the panel could take days, weeks or months. However, the case is expedited.
How did we get here?
NewsChannel 5 has covered this case since the first day. A lot has happened.
This summer, The Covenant School parents filed statements in regard to the shooter's writings, in hopes of demonstrating the harm that would come from releasing the shooter's documents. Of the statements, two came from parents who lost their children that day.
Metro Police said the shooter had several journals detailing plans for the shooting and had been planning the attack for months. So far, police have indicated it would take a year to analyze all of the writings and documents from the shooter. As of this summer, the writings — still in possession of the Metro Nashville Police Department — would go into the newly established Covenant Children's Trust.
When police searched the shooter's car and home the day of the shooting, they collected dozens of things including guns, a suicide note, journals, and more.
It's not clear when, if ever, those documents would make it into the hands of the families. Right now all the documents are in police custody.
