NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — In a small room inside Woodmont Baptist Church, Brent Leatherwood stood behind a podium talking on behalf of dozens of Covenant School parents, his voice constricting at times so he wouldn't cry.
On Monday, a conservative talk show host released three leaked pictures of the Covenant School shooter's writings. On March 27, the shooter walked into the Covenant School and killed three students and three staff members. The shooter was shot and killed by police.
"You’re a viper," said Leatherwood, a Covenant parent who became a vocal father after the shooting. "You’re a member of the law enforcement community, and you’ve released evidence in our most vulnerable moment. You’ve now allowed this woman to terrorize our family with bullets and to terrorize us with words from the grave. How could you? What kind of a person does this?"
There is an investigation underway to determine who leaked the photos — but so far no one has been named. Nashville Mayor Freddie O'Connell said he and his administration were looking into the unauthorized release of three images from the Covenant school shooter's writings.
The leaked images of the Covenant school shooter's writings were in notebooks. One of the pictures appears to show a gloved hand holding the notebook. Another image shows a Metro Nashville Police SUV in the background.
Right now, the documents are with Metro Nashville police as they are embroiled in a lawsuit over their release. The Covenant Church and the families have sued to keep the documents from the public. Right now, the case is before the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
"The damage done today is already significant, and I am worried it’s only going to grow with the release of images — what have we learned?" Leatherwood said. "Have we learned anything we didn’t already know? Did we not already know that this was a deeply disturbed individual who was detached from reality? What more evidence was needed? She shot her way into a school and killed six defenseless lives. We already knew that she was deeply and emotionally distressed and in need of help. That’s not been added to by the images today."
It's not clear what next action the families will take with this release of images if any. Paul Krog, the attorney representing five groups wanting the release of the documents, said the unauthorized photos should not impact their court case.
"The leaked images should not affect the argument we presented to the Court of Appeals," Krog said. "Whether they will have any effect on the intervenors’ arguments or the proceedings remains to be seen. We are still assessing those questions."
MNPD is actively investigating the situation. Police are providing counselors to Covenant families who need them, authorities said.
NewsChannel 5 does not have and has never seen the shooter's writings. We have repeatedly requested their release as part of a public records request.
