Could releasing the Covenant shooter's manifesto create a blueprint for copycats?
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Parents from The Covenant School continue to grieve after the tragic mass shooting and some of those parents do not want Metro Police to release the gunman's manifesto.
Another group, National Police Association, is suing Metro government to get police to share Audrey Hale's writings.
Metro Police are the lead investigators on The Covenant School shooting, so they are the agency that will determine when and to what extent the manifesto is released.
Sgt. Joseph Giacalone is a retired New York Police Department sergeant, and he says you must be very careful when releasing something like this to the public.
“You always worry about if somebody is either going to take revenge or use it as a copycat kind of thing, so we don’t want it turning into a how-to manual,” Sgt. Giacalone explained.
Sgt. Giacalone says going through all the calls, texts, and interviewing people involved takes a lot of time.
ALSO READ: National police advocacy group calls on MNPD to release Covenant shooting manifesto
Metro Police say that is one of the reasons the department has not released the manifesto, since this is an open investigation, and they are using recent lawsuits as another reason.
Metro also says some parents from Covenant oppose the release of the manifesto.
“Can we agree that we want our kids to feel safer in school? Can we agree that we want to keep guns out of dangerous peoples’ hands?” Covenant mother Becky Hansen said.
Hansen emphasizes she wants to focus on gun reform.
Doug Pierce, attorney for the National Police Association, believes the release would be helpful for lawmakers and law enforcement.
“I believe you can learn what people are trying to do and take counter measures and there’s nothing that can be done to turn back the hands of time, but I think we can learn from the past,” Pierce said.
The National Police Association is filing a lawsuit to get the manifesto released and organizations like Tennessee Stars have done this as well.
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