A fourth child survived the Covenant School shooting, an attorney for the parents of Covenant School students said in a passing remark during arguments in court on Monday. He was arguing whether the parents should be allowed to state a claim in having documents related to the shooting released pending an open records lawsuit.
“At the most basic level, let’s not forget that there was one child that survived, your honor,” Eric Osborne, attorney for the parents, said on Monday. “So, at a minimum, surely those parents, and that child are victims and have the right to come assert this.”
The Epoch Times reviewed press conference footage from the day of and surrounding the shooting by officials such as Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Chief John Drake and found there was no mention of a fourth child being injured or surviving.
“An officer had a wound from cut glass,” Drake said in a press conference on the day of the shooting, responding to a question asking about other injuries. “That is the only other injury that I’m aware of.”
He added “three students who were shot are deceased. Three staff members who were shot are deceased. That’s a total of six victims. And then you have the shooter who was engaged by two of our police officers … and she is deceased, for a total of seven individuals. There are no other gunshot victims, non-lethal, that I’m aware of at present.”
No additional statements from MNPD have ever indicated an additional child who was injured, what their injuries were, or that there was a survivor other than the remaining students and staff.
MNPD Responds
MNPD confirmed another child was injured during the March 27 shooting, but the source of the injury was unknown.“There was a child with a minor injury to their shoulder, source of injury unknown,” MNPD Public Affairs Officer Kristin Mumford told The Epoch Times in an email. “They were treated and released.”
In follow-up emails on Thursday, Mumford said the child had a “minor shoulder injury” that officials were not aware of “during the direct aftermath of the horrific tragedy.”
She added media had inquired about the injury prior to Monday, but The Epoch Times could not find an outlet that had reported this information.
The Epoch Times inquired about whether the child was treated on scene or transported to a hospital by emergency services, as the attorney for the parents mentioned “one child that survived” as a seemingly important piece of information in court used to argue victims’ rights for parents to be able to intervene.
“The child was being placed on a bus to be taken to the reunification location when her injury was detected by a police officer,” Mumford added. “The child was then transported to the hospital via ambulance, treated, and released.”
Some Officials Unaware
The Epoch Times reached out to the highest-ranking elected officials in Tennessee, as well as both of the state’s U.S. Senators, to see if they were aware of this information.The first response came from Lt. Governor Randy McNally, who a spokesman said had not known the information now reported by The Epoch Times.
“Lt. Governor McNally was not aware of this information prior to your email,” Adam Kleinheider, Communications Director for McNally said in an email to The Epoch Times.
No other officials had responded to The Epoch Times thus far, including Gov. Bill Lee, state House Speaker Cameron Sexton, and Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty.
An email to Osborne on Monday after his comments in court went unanswered. Another email sent prior to publication on Thursday has yet to be responded to, but this story will be updated if needed.
