Chancery Court Judge Rules Covenant School Shooter’s Writings Cannot Be Published

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A Chancery Court judge ordered Thursday that documents and writings belonging to the Covenant School shooting suspect will not be made public.

This lawsuit comes because Metro did not immediately release documents related to the April 2023 shooter. At this point, police have not released any of the letters and have denied open-records requests — including one from us at NewsChannel 5.

Metro Legal said it denied the records because they were part of an open investigation. It later decided not to disclose anything because of a legal dispute over the records.

Chancellor I’Aesha Myles wrote in her 60-page order that Tennessee courts have determined that public access to all records at any time is not inconsistent with the administration of justice.

“Therefore, the right of unrestricted access to public 56 records has been tempered by certain exceptions that serve to withhold certain information from disclosure because the risk of harm from disclosure is outweighed by the public’s right to know,” Myles wrote. “Moreover, where the Congress of the United States has spoken as the supreme law of the land, even laws enacted in Tennessee must yield to its precedence.”

This is a developing story. We will update this article with more details.