Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the continued withholding of materials relating to the Covenant School killer is “insulting” to the public as it nears two years since the shooting took place.
On Monday, The Star reported that the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said it expects to make an announcement regarding the conclusion of its investigation into the Covenant School shooting sometime in the next two weeks.
The developments come nearly two years after 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a biological female who identified as a transgender man, killed three students and three faculty members at her former Christian elementary school on March 27, 2023.
Pappert said that while he is optimistic in MNPD’s statement that it plans to release a long-waited report into the shooting upon the closing of its investigation into the matter, however, went on to add that he is not expecting the agency to release any new information or materials related to Hale.
“Perhaps I’m being the eternal optimist here, but I have to wonder if perhaps there’s some sort of coordination between the federal and local government and they’re realizing that it’s time to put this behind us,” Pappert said on Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“I’m not going to hold my breath that Metro Nashville has suddenly had a change of heart and is going to release the actual writings of the Covenant School killer, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the transgender school shooter. I think we will probably get some level of case files and it will be very interesting to see what they’re willing to divulge without further litigation,” Pappert added.
Considering how MNPD has seemingly stalled in its investigation into the shooting, Pappert said he believes the collective information gathered about the transgender shooter has been kept under wraps for as long as possible for its “damaging” effect on the leftist narrative surrounding gender dysphoria.
“This is extremely damaging to the liberal, progressive, Democratic narrative that perhaps these gender bending drugs, perhaps this ideology alone, is very dangerous to young people, perhaps simply being in the mental health system, which we’re told for transgender people in particular is the only way to prevent a suicide. Perhaps that is not the only way to help these people, and there’s something else going on,” Pappert said.
Pappert noted, however, that the continued withholding of such materials relating to Hale is “insulting,” given how there has been an uptick of similar instances involving individuals who identify as transgender inciting violence and plotting to commit similar acts.
“It’s startling because we’ve seen other instances of transgender female to male individuals that are now in serious legal trouble being found guilty for threatening or making phone calls, or doing some things that are eerily similar to what Audrey Hale did in the days before the attack,” Pappert said.
“There is a lot we could learn from this, and it’s just insulting to keep it away from the public for years on end,” Pappert added.
When it comes to MNPD’s forthcoming report on the shooting, Pappert said there is no indication that further charges or arrests will come along with the conclusion of the investigation despite there being questions surrounding how the shooter obtained firearms and why her expressions of suicidal ideation and homicidal ideation to her medical team was not reported under the state’s duty to warn law.
“Not only do I not think that there’s any charges forthcoming, I think the only possible charges that might have been forthcoming would’ve likely been civil in nature, possibly regarding those who were providing her mental health services. As we know from a Metro Nashville police interview, Audrey Hale said she wanted to kill her father, she wanted to attack her family members. They were never informed of this, potentially in violation of Tennessee’s duty to warn law,” Pappert explained.
“I think what you might see is a James Comey and Hillary Clinton situation where they come up and tell you exactly what the crimes were and then tell you that no prosecutor would take the case,” Pappert added.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “John Drake” by Metro Nashville Police Department.
