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 asked 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 addition to the Tennessee Firearms Association filing, additional petitions seeking to enforce existing laws which presumptively make public records available for public inspection were filed by a) The Tennessean, Rachel Wegner and Sen. Todd Gardenhire (in his personal capacity), b) Michael Patrick Leahy and Star New Digital Media, Inc., and c) Clata Renee Brewer (in conjunction with the National Police Association).  All four petitions have been consolidated by the Court under the "Brewer" case style which had the first filing date.

The lawsuits seek a court order directing Metro to disclose the requested records and to pay the Plaintiffs’ their attorney’s fees.  Collectively, the plaintiffs are represented by six attorneys.  Metro is represented by four attorneys.

Generally, the only other party to an "open records" lawsuit, which by statute functions primarily as a "show cause" hearing in which the government entity is ordered by the court to appear and "show cause" why the public records were not produced as requested.  

What is unusual about this open records case is that so many third parties have tried to inject themselves into the lawsuit.  Initially, Covenant School, Covenant Church and approximately 100 of the parents whose children attend Covenant School.  The Covenant School parties are represented by 18 attorneys in six law firms.  

Add to that, in the past week an attorney has filed a notice of appearance in the case on behalf of the shooter's parents. 

Then in the last few days, the Nashville District Attorney's office has had 2 attorneys file a proposed "amicus" ("friend of the court") brief.  Then four additional private schools (Franklin Road Academy, Montgomery Bell Academy, Oak Hill School and St. Paul Christian School) have also filed a proposed amicus brief opposing disclosure and are represented by four additional attorneys in yet another law firm.

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. 

What is notable is that in addition to the Metro attorneys, who should be involved in the cases, there are now at least 25 additional attorneys involved in at least 9 law firms or government entities who have injected themselves into the case primarily for the purpose of blocking disclosure of all or some of the records.  

It raises questions about what is it that some believe may be in these records that so much legal effort and expense is being incurred to suppress from public access.

The Covenant Shooter's Autopsy Report

On Monday, June 12, 2023, Townhall released a bombshell report that it had and was publishing the autopsy report of the Covenant School shooter.  The Townhall report indicates "in the 11-page document from the Davidson County Medical Examiner's office, a toxicology report found that the blood-, urine- and vitreous-humor analysis performed on Hale did not detect abuse of substances or alcohol." 

Noting that the shooter was "pronounced dead at the scene", the conclusion of the autopsy report raises more questions about exactly who or what Metro Police Department claims to be the subject of the alleged ongoing criminal investigation.