On May 1, 2023, James Hammond, former sheriff for Hamilton County,
Tennessee, and the Tennessee Firearms Association, in cooperation with
Judicial Watch, filed a lawsuit in the Chancery Court of Tennessee,
Davidson County, against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and
Davidson County (“Metro”). ( A copy of the lawsuit is on the
TFA's news post) In the lawsuit, the parties ask for a court
order to force Metro to turn over certain records as specified in the
Petition related to the Covenant School shooting that occurred in March
2023.
In the two open records requests submitted by the
Tennessee Firearms Association, TFA sought all records concerning the
shooter’s “manifesto”. TFA also sought disclosure of “all email
communications of MNPD officials regarding the mass shooting committed
by Audrey Elizabeth Hale on March 27, 2023, as well as MNPD officials’
text messages regarding the same, and copies of the ‘manifesto’ reported
left by Audrey Elizabeth Hale in her vehicle.”
Sheriff Hammond, retired, submitted an additional open records request in which he requested:
Except as otherwise stated, the
time frame for the requested records is for the period of March 27,
2023, to the date of your final response to this records request.
1. All MNPD criminal police reports documenting this incident to include but not limited to:
a. Impound/evidence invoices
b. Photographs
c. Bodycam footage
d. City/County/State and/or federal coroner information
e. Suspect toxicology/lab results
f. Audio of calls for service
g. School video footage of suspect and officers.
2.
All MNPD Force Investigation Team (FIT) internal administrative
investigations/reports regarding this incident to include but not
limited to those mandated by The Manual of the Metropolitan Police
Department of Nashville Davidson County, TN (the Department Manual)
Title 1.130.050.
3. All MNPD communications, to include
but not limited to directives, orders, memos, emails and/or letters,
concerning the release of the contents and/or copies of the
aforementioned “manifesto” of the deceased female shooting suspect.
4.
All MNPD communications between the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and/or the Office of the
District Attorney, Nashville (20th Judicial District) regarding the
designation of the aforementioned multiple shooting at a Christian
School by a self-identified transgender suspect as a “hate crime.”
5.
All MNPD criminal and/or field intelligence reports and/or received
complaints involving the aforementioned shooting suspect (Audrey Hale)
dated from January 1, 2020, to the date of your final response to this
records request.
Metro had denied all of these open records requests. Metro asserted
that all three requests were “denied on the following grounds: The
following state, federal, or other applicable law prohibits disclosure
of the requested records: Open Case – Rule 16 of the Tennessee Rules of
Criminal Procedure and Tennessean v. Metro. Gov’t of Nashville,
485 S.W.3d 857 (Tenn. 2016).” However, the individual involved in the
Covenant School shooting was killed by law enforcement on the day of
the event. Metro failed to identify any pending criminal investigation
that could even possibly result in criminal charges.
The lawsuit
seeks a court order directing Metro to disclose the requested records
and to pay the Plaintiffs’ their attorney’s fees.
Many believe
that public access to these records is important for a number of reasons
including the interest in determining the actual basis for the
homicides particularly in light of Governor Bill Lee’s call for a
special legislative session to consider his gun control proposal that he
has presented in the format of a “Red Flag” law.
