Court rules Nashville shooter's writings can be made public

Body

The Tennessee Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that writings left by the person who killed students and adults in the 2023 Covenant school shooting in Nashville can be made available to the public, reversing much of a 2024 decision that had sided with Covenant parents seeking to keep the documents closed. The case reflects a yearslong dispute over public records tied to the attack and whether Tennessee law allows broad withholding when the material is framed as related to school safety.

The appeals court said the trial court’s approach stretched too far. Quoting earlier rulings, the appeals court emphasized the role of Tennessee’s Public Records Act as “a tool to hold government officials and agencies accountable to the citizens of Tennessee through oversight in government activities.” The decision also addressed how broadly the trial court had treated the disputed materials as covered by a school-safety exception.

According to court filings described in the AP report, the shooter left documents that include journals, a suicide note and a memoir. The Covenant parents had argued that releasing the writings could further traumatize their children and could inspire copycat attacks.

A lower court ruling in 2024 had agreed with the parents, finding that the Covenant shooting records fell under an exception to the Public Records Act because they were related to school safety. The appeals court’s Wednesday ruling overturned much of that opinion, saying the lower court interpreted the school-safety exception too broadly. In language AP reported from the appeals court, the court said it was “asked to accept at face value” the trial court’s finding that every item compiled or created by the shooter—over many years before the 2023 event—related to the Covenant School’s security, and that the conclusion “strains credulity.”

The lower court’s 2024 decision had also relied on federal copyright law, ruling that writings and other works created by the shooter could not be released. AP reported that, as part of the effort to keep the records closed, the shooter’s parents transferred ownership of the documents to the Covenant families in 2024, and the Covenant parents argued in court that they should control access.

In Wednesday’s ruling, the appeals court said that even if some records are protected by copyright law, Metro Nashville Police could still permit public inspection without running afoul of federal copyright restrictions. AP reported that the appeals court rejected what it described as a conflation by the trial court and the parents between access for inspection and reproduction and display.

The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court to amend the 2024 ruling. Covenant parents have 60 days to appeal, and their attorney, Eric Osborne, said in an email Thursday that they have not yet decided what they will do.

The AP report also listed the people killed in the March 2023 shooting: Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9 years old, and adults Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61. While the appeals court decision addresses what writings can be made available under Tennessee’s public records framework, the report said the full investigative report from Nashville police remains sealed.