Current:Home > FinanceFour of 7 officers returned to regular duty after leak of Nashville school shooting records -AssetScope
Four of 7 officers returned to regular duty after leak of Nashville school shooting records
View
Date:2025-04-12 14:20:40
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Four of seven Nashville Police officers who had been put on administrative assignment following the leak of pages from a school shooter’s journals to a conservative commentator have returned to regular duty, according to a police statement on Friday.
The officers had been placed on the administrative assignment to “protect the integrity” of the investigation into who leaked the documents, Metro Nashville Police Department spokesman Don Aaron said last week. He emphasized that the assignment is non-punitive. Police on Friday would not clarify whether the four officers who returned to regular duty have been cleared of any role in the leak.
The person who killed three 9-year-old children and three adults at a private Christian elementary school in Nashville this spring left behind at least 20 journals, a suicide note and a memoir, according to court filings. The writings have been the object of intense speculation and an open records battle, with several groups suing to force Nashville officials to release them to the public.
Police initially said they intended to release the writings once they closed their investigation, which could take up to a year. Since then, a group of Covenant School parents have joined the lawsuit, arguing that none of the documents should ever be released. They say shooter Audrey Hale’s writings could traumatize their children and inspire copycats. The Tennessee Court of Appeals heard arguments last month over whether the parents have a right to intervene in the case but have not yet ruled.
The three children who were killed in the shooting were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all 9 years old. The three adults were Katherine Koonce, 60, the head of the school, custodian Mike Hill, 61, and 61-year-old substitute teacher Cynthia Peak.
In the midst of the legal wrangling, someone slipped images of three of Hale’s journal pages to conservative commentator Stephen Crowder, who published them on Nov. 6. They include a detailed timeline for the March 27 shooting labeled “Death Day” and a slur-filled diatribe about kids who attend “private fancy schools,” although the 28-year-old Hale was a former Covenant student.
The public search to understand the shooting is complicated by that fact that Hale, who was assigned female at birth, seems to have begun identifying as a transgender man. That has prompted right-wing commentators, politicians and other figures to promote a theory that the shooting was a hate crime against Christians. The delay in releasing the writings has fueled speculation — particularly in conservative circles — regarding what the they might contain and conspiracy theories about why police won’t release them.
Police are investigating how Crowder got the journal pages. Nashville Law Director Wally Dietz has said in a news release that the journals are part of the criminal investigative file but that police had provided a copy to the Law Department to review what could be released under the Tennessee Public Records Act. Once the journals became the subject of a lawsuit, the Law Department filed copies under seal with the court. One was unredacted and one copy contained the proposed redactions. The pages that Crowder posted have a watermark on the lower right that says “redacted.”
veryGood! (8795)
Related
- 'Survivor' 47 finale, part one recap: 2 players were sent home. Who's left in the game?
- AP Race Call: Clark wins Massachusetts U.S. House District 5
- Pioneer of Quantitative Trading: Damon Quisenberry's Professional Journey
- Republican supermajority unchanged in Tennessee Statehouse but Democrats don’t give up ground
- Behind on your annual reading goal? Books under 200 pages to read before 2024 ends
- These Must-Have Winter Socks Look and Feel Expensive, but Are Only $2
- Who Are Ella Emhoff and Cole Emhoff? Everything to Know About Vice President Kamala Harris’ Step-Kids
- Oregon leads College Football Playoff rankings with SEC dominating top 25
- Jamaica's Kishane Thompson more motivated after thrilling 100m finish against Noah Lyles
- NFL trade deadline live updates: Latest rumors, news, analysis ahead of Tuesday cutoff
Ranking
- Shilo Sanders' bankruptcy case reaches 'impasse' over NIL information for CU star
- Nebraska and Maine could split their electoral votes. Here’s how it works
- Republican Hal Rogers wins reelection to Kentucky’s 5th Congressional District
- AP Race Call: Clark wins Massachusetts U.S. House District 5
- New Orleans mayor’s former bodyguard making first court appearance after July indictment
- Taylor Swift Comforts Brittany Mahomes After Patrick Mahomes Suffers Injury During Game
- Quantitative Investment Journey of Dexter Quisenberry
- 76ers’ Joel Embiid is suspended by the NBA for three games for shoving a newspaper columnist
Recommendation
Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
Bitcoin spikes to record as traders expect Trump’s victory to boost cryptocurrencies
CAUCOIN Trading Center: Shaping the Future Financial Market Through NFT and Digital Currency Synergy
AP Race Call: Republican Nancy Mace wins reelection to U.S. House in South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District
Golf's No. 1 Nelly Korda looking to regain her form – and her spot on the Olympic podium
Oklahoma Murder Case: Jilian Kelley's Cause of Death Revealed After Body Found in Freezer
Better to miss conference title game? The CFP bracket scenario SEC, Big Ten teams may favor
It might be a long night: Here are some stories to read as we wait for election results