DOCS DILEMMA

Nashville School Shooter’s Family Will Give Manifesto to Victims

The school and its students’ parents say the writings should never be released.

The parents of the shooter who killed three adults and three children at a school in Nashville will give legal ownership of the killer’s writings to the families of about 100 families, the parents’ lawyer said Thursday. Among the writings found by police after the attack in March is a so-called manifesto, attorney David Raybin said, according to WKRN. Raybin did not disclose what had led to the decision of the shooter’s parents, Ronald and Norma Hale, to give legal ownership of the documents to the parents of the Covenant School students on their children’s behalf. A legal battle is currently being fought over whether the documents should ever come to light. The parents of Covenant School students, the school itself, and an adjoining church have argued the writings should not be made public over concerns of retraumatizing victims and inspiring other would-be shooters. A group of news outlets and a gun rights organization argue the writings are important to understand why the massacre took place.