Nashville’s police department has taken multiple officers out of the field, after an apparent leak of journal pages left by the assailant of the Covenant School shooting.
A Metro Nashville Police Department spokesperson says that seven officers are now on administrative assignment to “protect the integrity” of the investigation into the source of the leak. The spokesperson says that the move was not a punishment and that the seven will continue to have “full police power.”
MNPD says the leaked images are not official crime scene photos.
On Monday, conservative podcast host and YouTuber Steven Crowder posted the images of what he claimed to be three pages from journals belonging to the assailant of the Covenant School shooting, which killed three elementary school students and three staff members in March.
Parents of the Covenant School have fought the release of the assailant’s journals in court, citing concerns that those writings could re-traumatize students.
“These writings do have the ability to inspire further attacks. Not just on us, on other communities,” said Brent Leatherwood, who represents Covenant families. “We saw this in Allen, Texas, where that shooter referenced the Covenant shooter. How many more people have to be killed in a senseless way so that you can get clicks?”
Leatherwood said whoever leaked the photos has committed a felony.
“What have we learned?” Leatherwood said. “Did we not already know that this was a deeply disturbed individual, who is detached from reality? What more evidence was needed?”
In a statement Monday, Mayor Freddie O’Connell said he directed Metro Legal director Wally Dietz to investigate the leak, adding that the investigation may involve local, state and federal authorities.
“I am deeply concerned with the safety, security, and well-being of the Covenant families and all Nashvillians who are grieving,” he said, and urged anyone in need of support to reach out to professionals at National Alliance on Mental Illness (615-891-4724), MNPD support counselors (615-862-7773) or MNPS Family Information Center (615-259-INFO).
Authorities were initially focused on determining whether this was an internal leak or an external hack, according to a source familiar with the investigation.
Dietz confirmed in a statement Monday that he had launched the investigation and would be working with multiple law enforcement agencies “to determine exactly what happened.” Dietz added that he could not confirm or deny the authenticity of the documents at the time due to the ongoing lawsuit concerning their release.
Late Monday, Police Chief John Drake issued a statement, which read in part: “This action showed a total disregard for Covenant families, as well as the court system, which has control of the shooter’s journals at the present time due to litigation filed earlier this year.”
Correction: A previous version of this story said that Chief John Drake released his statement late Tuesday. Drake’s statement was released Monday.
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