Parents, Staff at Covenant School Join Prominent Officials in New Filings Seeking to Stop Release of Shooter’s Writings

New filings detail chilling details children told their parents about shooting

A balloon with names of the victims is seen at a memorial at the entrance to The Covenant School, in Nashville, Tenn., on March 29, 2023. Wade Payne/AP Photo

An array of statements in support of the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s denial of public records requests in connection with the March 27 mass shooting at The Covenant School have been filed this week. In total, around 25 statements supporting the decision to withhold the documents were made in just three days.

Those filing in support of withholding the documents include parents and families of victims, staff, the former Director of The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the former Nashville District Attorney, and a former FBI field agent.

Horrific details about how the shooting unfolded were brought to light in the declarations filed by parents, recounting their children’s experiences, some of which include them being pulled into a classroom by a teacher to avoid being shot as the shooter neared.

Parents of two of the children who were killed that day, along with the daughter of Mike Hill, who was also killed, urged the court to stop the release. A large group of these parents and other officials who filed argue release will impact school security and inspire copycat attacks.

However, Hill’s brother told a Nashville news outlet this week he wants the writings released for closure, a break from the opposing prevailing theme of the Covenant community.

Closer Calls than Previously Reported by MNPD

Some children and faculty came much closer to being killed in the shooting than previously reported by MNPD.

One mother said her daughter saw the shooter’s gun sticking into her classroom firing shots as she hid under a table. This same girl was friends with two of the victims, William Kinney and Hallie Scruggs.

She said her child’s best friend was killed “right outside the classroom.” Her son used to have small intimate lunches with 10-year-old children who struggled with anxiety with Katherine Koonce, the headmaster killed in the attack.

She said she had another child at recess at the time the shooter began her assault. At first, she writes, they believed popping sounds might have been from a construction crew, before realizing it was gunshots and running “for the forest” for their lives.

Jennifer Nelson had two children attending Covenant on the day of the shooting and who were locked in separate closets on the campus.

She said her eldest child was outside on the playground when the shooting began, while her first grader was “upstairs in the art room preparing to walk down the stairwell, the very stairwell where the children were murdered.”

Children from The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville, Tenn., hold hands as they are taken to a reunification site at the Woodmont Baptist Church after a deadly shooting at their school on March 27, 2023. Jonathan Mattise/AP Photo

“My youngest was very aware that they would have been walking down ‘that stairwell’ with their art supplies, and they said that they are thankful that their classmates were being cheeky because the teacher made them line up again because they were being a bit loud and rowdy,” she wrote. “Otherwise, they would’ve been in the same stairwell when the shooter was coming up the stairs.”

Another parent, who filed anonymously, said the third graders and teachers have “lived through a level of Hell that would break even the bravest among us.”

“Our 3rd-grade son was in Mrs. Blake’s class on March 27, walking into the hallway with his classmates for what they thought was a fire drill, when the shooter opened fire on his friends,” the parent writes. “We will never be able to convey the depth of gratitude we feel for Mrs. Blake’s quick actions to pull our son and the other surviving children back into the classroom and put up the barricades seconds before the shooter was at the door.”

Police and experts interviewed by The Epoch Times have not said whether the shooter pulled the fire alarm in an attempt to draw people into hallways, or if gunfire smoke set off the fire alarms.

“Our son has flashbacks to that horrific morning and can still smell the gun smoke and hear the sound of bullets ripping through the door’s glass and ricocheting overhead through his classroom.”

Families of Murdered Plead for Privacy

The Kinney family shared their frustration with the media and the privacy they say they no longer have.

“As if it wasn’t enough to lose my baby, we have been robbed of our privacy by the media who have relentlessly cold-called our friends and family, parked outside our homes, harassed me at work, asked to photograph my child’s room, and even surreptitiously entered churches and my home,” Erin Kinney, William’s mother wrote.

“It sickens us to have to write a letter to explain why someone who chose to be voiceless does not deserve to be heard.” Marquita Oglesby, Hill’s daughter, wrote. “The most devastating part of this is that the memories of the six lives lost have been diminished and minimized while every thought, drawing, doodle, and action of the shooter is made more relevant by every person who wants to decipher them.

Despite his daughter’s filings, this week Hill’s brother, Reggie told Nashville’s ABC affiliate he would like the writings to be released.

“It’s confusing to me,” he said in a statement to the outlet. “I feel the narrative regarding why what happened to my brother Michael is all over the place. Which is causing some family members more grief, stress, and anxiety, because of the rumors and myths that are floating in the community.”

Mourners observe the makeshift memorial at The Covenant School in the Green Hills neighborhood of Nashville on March 31, 2023, four days after six were killed at the school in a shooting. Chase Smith/The Epoch Times

Reggie added he was confused the writings weren’t released as in past mass shootings to “help give closure to a tragic situation.”

“For me personally not knowing the shooter’s true motives leaves a large void in my heart and in my brother’s story.”

Media Criticism

Kinney goes as far as to say the media and others suing for release of the records are “working on behalf of the Covenant school shooter to accomplish her final desire” which she said is immortality.

“The deranged writings of this shooter will be weaponized by those already inclined towards murderous desires and will inspire them to select their target, plan their attack and follow in her deadly footsteps,” she further stated. “Those that have called for the release of these writings and those who publish them will be entirely complicit.”

She said has not seen the writings of the shooter and doesn’t desire to do so, and “none of the Covenant parents, employees, board members or church members” have either.

“To my recollection, we have only seen a single chilling photograph of a detailed hand drawn tactical map of the school,” she wrote.

She goes on to say there is “nothing in the journals” to satisfy the minds of “conspiracy theorists.”

“If there were any hint of a cover-up or conspiracy resulting in our children’s murders, would not the parents of the dead children cry out the loudest for the release of these documents,” she asked. “And yet, we collectively desire the complete opposite because we know there is nothing to be discovered.”

Brent and Meredith Leatherwood, parents of three children who were present that day, echo Kinney in saying their current anguish comes from “unhinged activists, unthinking partisans, conspiracy theorists, and various media outlets that value clicks over their community.”

Brent Leatherwood, President of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Courtesy of SRLC.

The Leatherwoods said their family had also received “hints” of threats of legal action in order to intimidate them from trying to stop the release of the records. Leatherwood, through his position with the Southern Baptist Convention, has called on stricter gun laws following the shooting.

Trauma Caused to Children

All of the parents expressed a similar sentiment, that their children have been forever changed and lost their innocence by the shooting and that many of them have regressed or become extremely sensitive to everyday situations.

A staff member who has worked in various roles for over two decades said it was hurtful to hear earlier that those uninjured in the tragedy were not victims.

“Creating an environment where our students feel safe, secure and loved has always been something the Covenant School has worked incredibly hard to create,” said Beth Gammons. “We believed that we had created a safe, loving environment that made our school special and unique. All of that was changed on March 27, 2023.”

Former Law Enforcement Officials Concerned About Copycats

The former Director of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Mark Gywn, said through his experience in law enforcement that “writings such as the writings of the shooter at issue in this case clearly inspire copycat shootings.”

Torry Johnson, the former Nashville DA, argued the Victim’s Bill of Rights in the Tennessee Constitution is justification for not releasing the shooter’s writings.

Former FBI Special Agent Dan Hodges, who runs a security consulting firm in Nashville, said his experience of 30 years with the agency has given him good reason to believe that the writings of killers inspire copycats.

He added the FBI already has copies of the shooter’s writings and “will be able to use that information to protect the public.”