A statement released Tuesday by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Chief of Police John Drake appears to verify the authenticity of documents leaked to the media that were reportedly excerpts from the Covenant school shooter’s manifesto.
The three pages of disturbing comments were purported to be the writings of the 28-year-old female shooter who brutally murdered six individuals at Nashville Covenant School, a private Christian institution, on March 27, 2023.
Several media outlets claimed to have “independently verified” the manifesto’s authenticity using confidential sources within Nashville’s MNPD; however, the department did not immediately issue a statement regarding the validity of the reports until today.
“I am greatly disturbed by today’s unauthorized release of three pages of writings from the Covenant shooter,” Drake said in the statement. “This police department is extremely serious about the investigation to identify the person responsible.”
“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,” Drake added in reference to several lawsuits filed against the department and city for their refusal to release the manifesto to the public.
TPUSA previously reported that multiple outlets filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in an attempt to secure the document’s release, as the political motive behind the shooting had garnered national attention. Despite the numerous calls for transparency, the MNPD and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations denied all requests to view the documents, leading to a court battle over their reveal which gave the MNPD the legal authority to conceal the writings from the public.
“It is now pending in Davidson County Chancery Court and the Tennessee Court of Appeals. We are not at liberty to release the journals until the courts rule. Our police department looks forward to the ultimate resolution of the litigation concerning the journals,” Drake concluded.
Since the troubling documents were leaked, social media platforms Facebook and YouTube have censored the content, citing that the content violates “community standards on violence and incitement,” while the latter company claimed that the writings violated YouTube’s “violent criminal organizations policy.”
