More than a month after a trans-identified mass shooter took six innocent lives, including that of three children, at a private Christian elementary school, the police are delaying releasing documents that could pinpoint the mass murderer's motive.
Covenant investigation update: Due to pending litigation filed this week, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has been advised by counsel to hold in abeyance the release of records related to the shooting at The Covenant School pending orders or direction of the court.
— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) May 3, 2023
The police's announcement comes after local guns group Tennessee Firearms Association filed a lawsuit against the city of Nashville for access to Hale's writings, alleging that the city's police department violated the Tennessee Public Records Act.
In the wake of the March 27 mass shooting, a Nashville city council member told The Daily Caller that Hale's manifesto would be released to the public once the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit (BAU) is finished conducting its investigation. "It will be released," the city councilman confirmed, adding: "Whether that happens tomorrow, next week, or next month is anybody's guess, but yes, it will get released eventually. [The BAU] is trying to figure out what created the evil that transgressed on Monday; this is pure evil."
The police's public information office told WZTV that the investigation has "progressed to the point" where Hale's writings are "now being reviewed for public release." Although the process is "currently underway," it will "take some time," the report says.
A map and writings written by Hale revealed that her attack was "calculated and planned." According to police, Hale's writings recovered from her vehicle that was parked in the school parking lot, and others later found in the bedroom of her home, show that the shooter documented, in journals, her plot over a period of months to commit the mass murder at the Covenant School.
The writings remain under "careful review" by the MNPD and the FBI's BAU based in Quantico, Virginia. To date, authorities have not yet publicly identified Hale's motive. So far, it is known that the shooter "considered the actions of other mass murderers."
