An ex-police officer implicated in leak of a Nashville school shooter's journals has been arrested

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A erstwhile Nashville constabulary lieutenant was arrested Tuesday connected charges of theft, burglary and authoritative misconduct aft helium was accused of taking lawsuit files, including records from a school shooting wherever 3 9-year-olds and 3 big unit were killed.

In announcing the apprehension of Garet Davidson, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said helium utilized his presumption with the Office of Professional Accountability astatine the Metro Nashville Police Department to summation entree to restricted areas. “He past took aggregate transgression lawsuit files, interior probe lawsuit files, archetypal lawsuit files, and different documents helium was not authorized to retain,” according to a TBI quality release. Davidson was booked into the Nashville jailhouse connected a $150,000 bond.

Davidson's attorney, Alex Little, said helium would person a connection astir the apprehension aboriginal connected Tuesday.

Some of the charges are related to the March 2023 Covenant School shooting, according to the TBI. Davidson was antecedently implicated successful the leak of the shooter's journals to blimpish media outlets. The Tennessee Star published dozens of stories based connected what they said were 80 pages of the shooter’s writings.

That outlet was 1 of respective parties that had filed unfastened records requests with Nashville constabulary for records related to the shooting, including the journals. When the metropolis refused to instantly merchandise the records successful 2023, they sued. The plaintiffs included a weapon rights group, a instrumentality enforcement nonprofit and Tennessee State Sen. Todd Gardenhire. On the different broadside was not conscionable the city, but parents of galore of the Covenant students who wanted to support the records secret.

The concern rapidly ballooned into a messy premix of conspiracy theories, leaked documents, probate battles and accusations of ethical misconduct. In July, a justice ruled for the parents, who claimed they ain the copyright to the writings, transferred to them from the shooter's parents arsenic adjacent of kin. That determination is presently nether appeal.

Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation past period provided Tennessee Star owner, Star News Digital, with a redacted mentation of its Covenant shooting files successful effect to a abstracted lawsuit. In a national tribunal filing, the FBI said it withheld names and identifying accusation of 3rd parties and elaborate descriptions of the shooter’s plans. Also past month, Nashville constabulary released a last study connected the shooting that included details astir the shooter's writings, intelligence wellness and motivations.

Those killed successful the shooting were Evelyn Dieckhaus, Hallie Scruggs, and William Kinney, each 9 years old, and adults Cynthia Peak, 61; Katherine Koonce, 60; and Mike Hill, 61. Shooter Audrey Hale was changeable and killed by constabulary astatine the scene.

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