Students now have been scheduled to return to classes at The Covenant School in Nashville early in 2024, less than a year after a shooter killed three children and three adults in an attack on the educational facility at Covenant Presbyterian Church last March.
Audrey Hale, 28, shot her way through glass doors into the school, and fired more than 100 more rounds and destroyed the lives of Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, each 9, and Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60, and Mike Hill, 61.
Covenant students have been attending classes at Brentwood Hills Church of Christ since the attack.
But the fight over the violence, even though Hale was killed by police officers, is far from over, as there are groups that have insisted on her rantings in writing be released so the public may have the fullest information about a motive, and lawyers for parents and school have claimed releasing them would cause “harm” to students.
David Rausch, of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, said the writings are “journal-type rantings” but they remain secret, even though open-government advocates have explained state public records laws require their release.
The Tennessee Star bluntly reported that those lawyers contend the information would be so damaging to students that it would ‘”lead to suicides.”
An appeals court panel this week heard arguments on the fight over access to the records.
A lower court allowed the school and parents of students there to intervene in the legal fight over access, something which public records advocates say isn’t allowed by the law.
The records are being sought by the parent company of The Tennessee Star and others.
School lawyers want the records kept locked.
“For the parents, this case is literally a matter of life and death,” charged Eric Osborne. He is representing families of other students.
He claimed the release of the records would “grow their psychological harm” and that the “simple fact is that the record that we have presented shows that there is a very real risk that if the shooter’s writings are released, one or more children may harm themselves.”
Lawyer Paul Krog, acting on behalf of those seeking the records, said the state public records law doesn’t include an option for such intervention.
“This isn’t a case about what public policy ought to be; it’s a case about what the statute says and what the statute requires,” he said, explaining the statute has no provisions for parental intervention.
Reports already have revealed Hale had created a manifesto about her plans, and included maps and action plans. There’s not timeline yet for a court ruling.
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