Tag: MNPD

Nashville School Superintendent Refers Students to ‘Belonging Fund’ Created to Support Illegal Immigrants

Tom Pappert
Dr Battle

The new “Belonging Fund” announced by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to support illegal immigrants was reportedly presented to Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) students as a resource by Superintendent Dr. Adrienne Battle.

Battle directed students to the fund on Monday in response to a letter purportedly written by students concerned about the joint immigration enforcement operation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP), according to WPLN, which reported about 80 students voiced their concerns in a letter addressed to O’Connell and Battle.

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Mayor O’Connell Seems to Suggest He Considers Nashville a Sanctuary City

State News Foundation | Brian Wilson
Freddie O'Connell

In a hurriedly-called press conference on Monday, Mayor Freddie O’Connell – without using the exact phrase – laid out his position that the City of Nashville is essentially a sanctuary city.

Mayor O’Connell said he is “heartbroken” State and Federal law enforcement organizations ran traffic stop operations in Nashville over the weekend that resulted in the arrest of illegal aliens. The mayor condemned the arrests, repeatedly stating Metro Nashville Police Department was “not involved in these actions. Enforcing immigration is a Federal responsibility and MNPD officers are not ICE.”

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FBI Hands Judicial Watch Small Portion of Covenant School Manifesto Pages as Tennessee Star Lawsuit Continues

Tom Pappert

The FBI on Friday gave Judicial Watch a small portion of the 1,299 pages left by transgender Covenant School shooter Audrey Hale, who killed six on March 27, 2023, with heavy redactions on portions of the killer’s full 2023 journal that was already published in full by The Tennessee Star last year. 

The Star last September published about 90 pages that were written by Hale in her 2023 journal, which was recovered by law enforcement in her vehicle after the attack, alongside a spiral notebook that reportedly contained an operational plan for the atatck. In 2023, conservative comedian and pundit Steven Crowder published two pages from the spiral notebook.

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Metro Nashville Police Chief Under Investigation for Allegedly Pursuing Relationship with City Employee During Work Hours

Tom Pappert

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) Chief John Drake is under investigation by the department’s Office of Professional Accountability over claims that he engaged in a romantic relationship with a Metro Nashville employee during work hours, the department confirmed to The Tennessee Star on Monday. 

MNPD Public Affairs told The Star the complaint naming Drake was filed by Mario Mitchell, a 44-year-old man who was arrested for felony aggravated stalking earlier this month after a woman identified in a police report as his ex-wife, Watechia Lawless-Mitchell, who currently works as the Director of Children and Youth Initiatives for Metro Nashville, filed a police report related to an April 1 incident. 

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House Intelligence Committee Silent After FBI Reportedly Gives Trans Covenant Killer Manifesto to Congress

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

The U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) did not respond to multiple press inquiries from The Tennessee Star after the committee reportedly received the 1,299 pages of journals written by transgender Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale from the FBI under Director Kash Patel. Shortly after the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) concluded its investigation into the attack at the Covenant School, where Hale killed six on March 27, 2023, independent journalist Megyn Kelly reported on April 7 that the FBI allowed her to analyze and report the contents of Hale’s writings, while restricting her from publishing the pages. The Star published Hale’s full 2023 journal last September, releasing about 90 pages of her writings from the months before her attack on her former Christian school. Kelly also stated that the FBI, in an effort to engage in transparency, provided the documents to HPSCI so that Congress might review their contents. The Star contacted HPSCI and its chairman, Representative Rick Crawford (R-AR-01), but did not receive a response from the chairman or his committee to its April 8 inquiry. Inquiries to the committee’s vice chairman, Representative Trent Kelly (R-MS-01), and to committee member Representative J. French Hill (R-AR-02), made by…

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Department of Justice, Nashville Police Left in Dark on Covenant Killer Manifesto Release to Third Party amid Lawsuit, FBI Silence

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The Department of Justice and Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) both indicated to The Tennessee Star on Tuesday that they were unaware of the FBI’s apparent decision to conditionally release the 1,299 pages of writings left by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023, to independent journalist Megyn Kelly last week.

Kelly on Monday stated that the FBI provided the killer’s writings to her with permission to analyze and report their contents over the weekend, but that her team was restricted from publishing the materials in their entirety. Excerpts shared by Kelly appear to match the killer’s 2023 manifesto, which The Star legally obtained last June and published in September 2024. 

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Pappert on Covenant Shooter Investigation: Psychosis, Not Notoriety, Likely Drove the Covenant School Attack

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, disagrees with the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) conclusion that 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the self-identified transgender man who carried out the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023, committed the attack while she was “sane” and out of her desire for “notoriety.”

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Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale Feared Mental Health Commitment Would Stop Murder Plot, Final Police Report Claims

Tom Pappert
therapy

The final report on the Covenant School killings committed by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man when she killed three children and three staff members at the Christian school she once attended on March 27, 2023, feared that her mother and mental health professionals would have her involuntarily committed due to concerns over her mental health, derailing her plans to commit the attack.

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) released its report on the Covenant investigation on Wednesday, revealing that Hale grew increasingly concerned that her mother and therapist would have her involuntarily committed in the months prior her attack. Hale apparently became concerned about the prospect of commitment after she was evaluated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), despite the killer ultimately avoiding inpatient commitment on three separate occasions.

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Final Report on Covenant School Killer Contradicts Parents’ Claim They Didn’t Know Audrey Hale ‘Felt Close’ to Columbine Attackers

Tom Pappert
Columbine shooters

The final report on the Covenant School shooting, released by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Wednesday, seems to contradict a key claim made by the parents of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six on March 27, 2023.

According to the report, Ronald and Norma Hale became aware their daughter legally purchased her first firearm in December 2020, and her father was aware of she subsequently purchased a shotgun the following year. MNPD claimed that Norma Hale objected to her daughter’s ownership of the weapons, but that Ronald Hale supported responsible gun ownership.

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Metro Nashville Police Say Mysterious Seventh Gun Owned by Audrey Hill Actually Belonged to Covenant Killer’s Father

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Just days after the attack committed by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) stated publicly that the killer legally purchased seven weapons over the course of her life.

However, the final report MNPD released on Wednesday only accounted for six firearm purchases made by the killer, and MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron on Friday told The Tennessee Star that the seventh weapon actually belonged to the killer’s father, and was apparently mistakenly included in the total count of firearms owned by Hale.

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Police: Trans Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Left ‘Will,’ Instructions for ‘Distribution’ of ‘Possessions, Thumb Drives, Writings, and Artwork’

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) confirmed through the report published upon the conclusion of its investigation into the Covenant School shooting that Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological female who identified as a transgender man when she killed six on March 27, 2023, left a “will” that contained specific instructions for the “distribution” of key personal items, including her “possessions, thumb drives, writings, and artwork.”

This fact seemingly contradicts the previous claim made in probate court by the killer’s parents, Ronald and Norma Hale, whose attorney stated in a June 2023 court filing that their daughter did not have a will and died intestate. 

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‘Makes No Sense’: Reporter Questions Why MNPD Did Not Attempt to Obtain Covenant School Shooter’s Full Mental Health Record

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, called out the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) lack of interest and work in obtaining the full mental health record of 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the self-identified transgender man who carried out the Covenant School shooting on March 27, 2023.

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Detectives ‘Abandoned’ Effort to Get Mental Health Records of Trans Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Months After Attack

Tom Pappert
File room

Homicide detectives with the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) “abandoned” efforts to obtain the complete mental health records for Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological female who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023, after internal case files were obtained by The Tennessee Star and “Louder with Crowder” months after the attack. 

MNPD closed its investigation and released its final case file on Wednesday, more than two years after the attack that claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three staff members at the Covenant School, which revealed that law enforcement “abandoned” efforts to obtain medical records from Hale’s final therapist, as well as those from an eating disorder clinic where the killer attended an intensive outpatient program in 2017, over unspecified leaks to the media.

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Covenant School Killer Shared ‘Homicidal Fantasies’ During 2019 Psychological Assessment, Police Report Reveals

Tom Pappert
therapy

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological female who identified as a transgender man when she killed six on March 27, 2023, shared that experienced both “suicidal ideation and homicidal fantasies,” which involved thoughts of killing her own father, when speaking with a therapist in 2019. According to the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) report released on Wednesday, following the department’s conclusion of its Covenant investigation, Hale expressed suicidal and homicidal thoughts in journal entries beginning in 2018, and ultimately divulged this information to a therapist in 2019. “During therapy sessions in the spring and summer of 2019, Hale’s therapist noticed this anger with greater frequency,” MNPD homicide detectives wrote in the report. “Eventually, Hale let slip she had suicidal ideations and homicidal fantasies, though she was quick to explain she didn’t have a plan for either.” This apparently prompted the therapist to urge Hale to undergo a psychological assessment at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in June 2019, where The Tennessee Star previously learned that Hale was twice evaluated for commitment. During this assessment, MNPD noted VUMC mental health professionals “made no mention of psychosis and noted Hale denied having any plans to harm herself or others, nor…

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Police Report: Transgender Covenant School Killer Left 1,299 Pages of Writings in Notebooks Originally Called ‘Manifesto’

Tom Pappert

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) report published following the conclusion of its investigation into the Covenant School killings by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man prior to the March 27, 2023 attack, revealed the killer left behind 1,299 pages of written materials spread across more than a dozen notebooks, in addition to videos and drawings.

When The Tennessee Star obtained the killer’s 2023 journal from a source familiar with the investigation last June and published it in its entirety four months later, it learned that Hale produced as many as 1,000 pages in other journals over the course of years.

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MNPD’s 48-Page Report on Covenant School Attack ‘Political,’ ‘Missed the Mark,’ Reporter Says

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert and MPL

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) 48-page report into the Covenant School attack committed on March 27, 2023 by 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale appears to be “political” and “missed the mark” as it comes to its conclusion that the killer carried out the attack entirely for “notoriety.”

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Metro Nashville Police Concludes Investigation on Covenant School Killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, Releases 48-Page Report

Tom Pappert

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Wednesday concluded its investigation into the Covenant School attack committed on March 27, 2023 by 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man prior to killing six at the Christian school she once attended, sharing key findings about the investigation in a 48-page report.

Despite needing more than two years to complete its investigation, MNPD confirmed that “Hale acted alone during the attack itself,” and no one around the killer had knowledge she was planning the attack. 

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Nashville Police Expect Announcement on Covenant Shooting Investigation in ‘Near Future’

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) expects to make an announcement regarding the conclusion of its investigation into the Covenant School shooting sometime in the next two weeks, the agency told The Tennessee Star on Friday.

With the forthcoming announcement likely to occur in April, it seems clear any conclusion of the case will come more than two years after 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, a biological female who identified as a transgender man, and killed three students and three faculty members at her former Christian elementary school on March 27, 2023. 

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Metro Nashville Police Arrest City’s Operations Analyst for Child Exploitation After Cyber Tip

Tom Pappert
Jesse Stinson

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Tuesday announced the arrest of Jesse Stinson, an employee of the Metro Nashville government who has worked as an operations analyst for nearly three years, for the crime of child exploitation.

According to an MNPD press release, the department’s Sex Crimes detectives assigned to its Internet Crimes Against Children Unit arrested Stinson on Tuesday afternoon, following questioning over email addresses that were allegedly used to transmit “child porn images.”

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Police: Nashville Man Arrested for Fleeing in Stolen Vehicle Previously Bailed Out on More Stolen Vehicle Charges

Tom Pappert
Kenneth Strickland

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) reported on Saturday that a man was arrested for the second time in ten days over charges involving a stolen vehicle, with separate judges establishing bonds of less than $100,000 after both instances.

MNPD on Saturday reported the arrest of 31-year-old Kenneth Strickland by its Violent Crimes Division after he allegedly fled from a traffic stop while driving a stolen Jeep Grand Cherokee.

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Tennessee Man Arrested over Alleged Bomb Threat Emailed Tucker Carlson Network Claiming U.S. Not ‘Lawful and Legitimate’

Tom Pappert
Alexander Thompson

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) on Wednesday said the Brentwood, Tennessee man arrested earlier this week for allegedly planning to bomb a Nashville courthouse rose to the attention of law enforcement after he apparently contacted a representative of the Tucker Carlson Network (TCN) through an email that claimed the author was preparing an attack.

A press release by the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee revealed the Monday arrest by Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) of Alexander Thompson, the 35-year-old Brentwood man who allegedly threatened to bomb the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building and Courthouse in Nashville, came after the DOJ was contacted by “a representative of the Tucker Carlson Network,” who said the outlet founded by independent reporter Tucker Carlson received a rambling email about a planned attack. 

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FBI Denies Tennessee Star’s FOIA Request for ‘Legacy Tokens’ Memo Sent to Suppress Trans Covenant Killer Manifesto Release

Tom Pappert
Kash Patel

The FBI on Wednesday declined the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by The Tennessee Star that sought disclosure from the agency about its “legacy tokens” concept that was cited in the May 2023 memo that “strongly” advised Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) not to release the manifesto left by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed three 9-year-old students and three staff members at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023. 

Their refusal came in response to a FOIA request filed by The Star on February 27. The Star sought the agency’s internal copy of the memo, the identity of the FBI employees who authorized and sent it, as well as a list and copies of similar memos sent to other law enforcement agencies, and all internal communications which led to the commission of the 2018 research paper that appeared to offer the agency’s first public definition of “legacy tokens.”

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Nashville Police Arrest Man for Alleged Plot to Bomb Federal Courthouse

Tom Pappert
Alexander Thompson

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of a Brentwood man over an alleged plot to bomb a federal courthouse.

MNPD announced in a Tuesday press release that Alexander Thompson, 35, was arrested after he alleged made “numerous electronic threats involving plans to firebomb the Fred D. Thompson U.S. Courthouse and Federal Building.” 

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Tennessee Star Presses FBI for Answers on Agency’s ‘Legacy Tokens’ Memo Suppressing Trans Covenant Killer’s Manifesto

Tom Pappert
FBI Files with "Legacy Token" memo

The Tennessee Star on Thursday filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requesting the FBI provide all of its internal records regarding “legacy tokens,” including those related to the May 2023 memo that “strongly” advised the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) not to release documents like the manifesto left by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023.

Obtained by The Star last June, the May 11, 2023 memo was addressed to MNPD Chief John Drake and sent from the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, part of the agency’s Critical Incident Response Group, from an address in Quantico, Virginia.

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Lead Detective on Covenant Killer Case Among 76 Officers Who Left MNPD in 2024 as Police Remain 100 Short of Staffing Goal

Tom Pappert
Metro Nashville Police Department

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) is reportedly more than 100 officers short of its staffing goal, and while the department has increased its numbers in recent years, its efforts were hampered by 76 individuals who either resigned or retired from the police force over the course of 2024.

According to a Thursday report by Nashville Banner, the city’s budget for MNPD authorizes 1,658 officers, but the department is still 104 members short of its maximum police force. It additionally reported that while the department has 52 prospective officers completing the MNPD training academy.

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Lead Nashville Police Investigator of Covenant Killings Resigned One Year Ago, Moved Out of State

Tom Pappert
Covenant School Shooting police body camera footage

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) recently confirmed to The Tennessee Star that former Detective Bobby Samuels, who was the lead detective investigating the Covenant School shooting committed by Audrey Elizabeth Hale on March 27, 2023, is no longer a member of the police department.

According to MNPD Spokesman Don Aaron in a Saturday email, Samuels announced his resignation from MNPD about one year ago, at the end of 2023, when the detective apparently said he intended to also leave Tennessee in order to be near family.

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Conflicting Claims Emerge as MNPD Struggles to Close Covenant School Shooting Case After Year-Long Delay: ‘Has Defied Reason and Logic’

Kaitlin Housler
Tom Pappert

Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said the Metro Nashville Police Department’s (MNPD) handling of the investigation of the March 27, 2023 attack by Audrey Elizabeth Hale on the Covenant School has “defied reason and logic” as the department claims it is in the “finalization” stage of completing the process nearly two years after the attack occurred.

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Police Silent on Unaccounted Firearms Purchased by Covenant Killer Audrey Hale amid Claim FBI Secretly Seized Evidence

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Monday declined to provide additional details to The Tennessee Star about the firearms legally purchased by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School on March 27, 2023.

MNPD declined to provide the information just days after a source told The Star that a police captain ordered officers not to complete standard evidence documentation procedures during the search of Hale’s residence, and that the FBI absconded with certain evidence without no chain of custody documenting its transfer.

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Nashville Police Say ‘We Know Nothing of’ Bombshell Claim Some Evidence from Covenant Killer Residence Was Excluded from Official Documentation, Secretly Turned Over to FBI

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

A source familiar with the investigation into the March 27, 2023 attack by Audrey Elizabeth Hale on the Covenant School told The Tennessee Star on Thursday that a Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) captain, who led the department’s search of the killer’s residence, ordered police officers not to complete form 110 documents for items obtained during the search conducted on the day of the attack.

This source additionally told The Star that these items were carted away by the FBI, and that no chain of custody exists for the digital evidence obtained during the search of Hale’s home. Further, the source told The Star that firearms were plainly visible in the killer’s bedroom when police conducted their search, but that this evidence has been suppressed from the public.

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Nashville Middle Schooler Arrested for ‘Threats of Mass Violence’ Just Minutes Away from Antioch High School

Tom Pappert
JFK Middle School

A John F. Kennedy Middle School student was arrested by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) after police said the 14-year-old male allegedly told other students that he planned to bring a gun to the Nashville campus.

According to an MNPD press release, the unnamed student was charged in Juvenile Court with making a threat of mass violence on school property. Police said the student allegedly warned students on Tuesday, “not to come to school tomorrow,” because “he would be bringing a gun.”

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Nashville Police Say Former Antioch High School Employee Arrested for Solicitation of Student Was Suspended Weeks Prior to Shooting

Tom Pappert
Clarence Davis

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) said on Monday that it arrested a former employee at Antioch High School, where 17-year-old Solomon Henderson killed one and injured two before taking his own life earlier this month, after the worker was suspended just days prior to the attack, following allegations of repeatedly soliciting a student.

A Monday night press release by MNPD announced that Clarence Davis II, a former Antioch High School assistant basketball coach and campus support staff member, was arrested by the department and charged with 19 counts of especially aggravated sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of contributing to a minor’s delinquency.

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Nashville Police, Schools Silent on Possible Mental Health Treatment for Antioch High Killer Solomon Henderson After Suspensions

Tom Pappert
Solomon Henderson

Antioch High School killer Solomon Henderson, who police say killed one and injured two before taking his own life on Wednesday, was reportedly the subject of multiple suspensions or other behavioral consequences during his time in Nashville’s public schools, though neither the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) nor Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) confirmed this in response to Friday press inquiries from The Tennessee Star.

It was reported on Thursday by WSMV 4 that two sources familiar Henderson’s disciplinary history in MNPS said the attacker “had long been a concern,” with the sources apparently pointing toward disciplinary action taken against Henderson after he was caught bringing a box cutter to school.

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Antioch High School Reportedly Removed Metal Detectors Prior to Shooting at Nashville School

Tom Pappert
Antioch High School main entry

A source familiar with Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS) told The Tennessee Star on Wednesday that metal detectors were previously installed at Antioch High School some time during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that they were removed sometime prior to the January 22 shooting that saw two dead and two injured.

The source told The Star that the metal detectors were installed sometime around 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting they could have been obtained by MNPS using federal pandemic relief funding, but that they were removed for unclear reasons over the intervening years.

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Davidson County Sheriff’s Office Sent October Illegal Immigration Data as Tennessee Star Highlighted Late Reports

Tom Pappert

The Davidson County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) on Tuesday told The Tennessee Star that it submitted data to the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference (TNDAGC), who in turn confirmed to The Star that it received data covering the month of October 2024 from DCSO after The Star first contacted the agency seeking information about which Tennessee law enforcement agencies had submitted data in compliance with a Tennessee state law.

“We provided a spreadsheet of data, as required by statute, to the TNDAGC of those booked into Davidson County jails,” said Jonathan Adams, the director of communications for DCSO.

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President Biden, A.G. Garland Honor Police Who Responded to Covenant School Shooting Nearly Two Years After Attack

Tom Pappert
MNPD White House

President Joe Biden last week honored Metro Nashville Police (MNPD) Chief John Drake and the Nashville police officers who responded to the Covenant School shooting by awarding them the Medal of Valor, while the department reported that Attorney General Merrick Garland met with the Nashville police in the White House.

In posts to the social media platform X, the MNPD wrote, “Our Covenant School heroes, accompanied by Chief Drake, are at the White House & have just received our nation’s Medal of Valor from President Biden in the Oval Office. Attorney General Merrick Garland met with the team in the Roosevelt Room.”

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Metro Nashville Police Department Seemingly Ignores Law Demanding Agency Notify ICE When Arresting Illegal Immigrants

Tom Pappert
Metro Nashville Police Department

A frequently asked questions web page for the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) indicates the police force does not report immigration status of criminal offenders to federal police in apparent defiance of a law passed earlier this year.

Governor Bill Lee signed legislation in April that made a one-word change in Tennessee law in order to mandate every law enforcement agency in Tennessee must, “communicate with the appropriate official regarding the immigration status of any individual, including reporting knowledge that a particular alien is not lawfully present in the United States or otherwise cooperate with the appropriate federal official in the identification, apprehension, detention, or removal of aliens not lawfully present in the United States.”

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Police May Not Finish Covenant School Shooting Investigation by January 1 Goal as MNPD Spokesman Says ‘No Hard Date’

Tom Pappert
John Drake

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) may not meet its “goal” of completing the Covenant School shooting investigation by January 1, 2025, according to spokesman Don Aaron, who told The Tennessee Star on Tuesday he was unable to offer a firm date or time for the lead detective to finish documenting the case.

Aaron previously told The Star in November that “some work” was necessary to complete the documentation phase of the investigation early last month, then on November 12 confirmed it was “the goal” of the department to finish the investigation before the end of this year.

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Metro Nashville Police to Hold ‘Safe Surrender’ Next Month for Non-Violent Offenders

Kaitlin Housler

The Nashville Metro Police Department (MNPD) will hold a “Safe Surrender” event in December, a one-time opportunity for non-violent offenders with outstanding warrants to turn themselves in.

Men and women in Davidson County wanted on warrants for non-violent crimes, including failure to appear in court, are invited to turn themselves in at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church on December 6 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and December 7 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

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Nashville Police Claim Covenant Killer Investigation Still Underway, ‘Some Work’ Still Needed to Document March 2023 Attack

Tom Pappert
Covenant School shooting scene

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) told The Tennessee Star earlier this month that its investigation of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale remains ongoing, with “some work” still needed to document the March 27, 2023 attack that claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three school staff members.

MNPD Public Affairs director Don Aaron told The Star the investigation is still underway and remains in a documentation phase in a November 1 email. The MNPD official wrote, “Considerable progress has been made, though there is still some work to complete,” and said there is not a specific date for completion.

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YouTube Censors Police Video of Jon Bon Jovi Talking Distraught Woman off Nashville Bridge During Music Video Shoot

Tom Pappert
Jon Bonjovi

A Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) spokesman confirmed to The Tennessee Star on Thursday that YouTube pulled its video of legendary musical artist Jon Bon Jovi talking a “distraught woman” off the ledge of a Nashville bridge, potentially saving her life.

MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron confirmed to The Star the video was originally published to a YouTube channel operated by the police department, and that it was removed from the platform by YouTube. The platform did not impose additional punishment to the MNPD-operated channel beyond removal of its video, Aaron told The Star.

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Former Davidson County Correctional Officer Charged over Fatal Fentanyl Overdose at Nashville Jail

Tom Pappert
Charles Kelley

A former correctional officer with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office has been charged with involvement in the fatal 2023 fentanyl overdose of an inmate in a Nashville jail, the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) confirmed on Friday.

The police investigation into the circumstances behind the fatal overdose of 18-year-old Daniel Prisco at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility on Harding Place resulted in six arrests, according to the department, which revealed four of the accused are inmates at the jail.

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Tennessee Coalition for Open Government Executive Director Deborah Fisher Says the Continued Withholding of Covenant Killer Materials Is ‘Disturbing’

Kaitlin Housler

Deborah Fisher, the executive director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, described the continued withholding of documents by the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) relating to the case of the Covenant School killer as simply “disturbing.”

On Tuesday, The Tennessee Star published all 90 pages of the journal written between January and March of 2023 by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the 28-year-old biological woman who self-identified as a transgender man and who, on March 27, 2023, murdered three 9-year-old students and three staff members at the Covenant School in Nashville before being subsequently killed by MNPD officers.

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Nashville Man Charged in Shooting Judge’s Moving Vehicle Out on $125,000 Bond Ahead of Latest Arrest

Tom Pappert
Judge I'Ashea Myles, Divid Bush

The Nashville man arrested on Friday in relation to the shooting of a judge’s moving vehicle last September was out on bail for unrelated crimes at the time of his latest arrest, having previously been granted a $125,000 bond on attempted murder and reckless endangerment charges following a March arrest.

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) confirmed the arrest on Friday, writing that law enforcement identified 23-year-old David Bush as their suspect using “ballistic evidence and cell phone data” recovered from the time of the shooting.

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Nashville Police Replace Internal Affairs Director Months After Retired Officer’s Complaint Sparked Investigation

Tom Pappert
Kathy Morante, Nashville City Hall

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Monday reportedly replaced the head of its internal affairs office in a decision that came months after retired Lieutenant Garet Davidson submitted a 61-page complaint naming the former official, prompting an investigation.

It was reported on Monday by Nashville Banner that Kathy Morante, the head of the MNPD Office of Professional Accountability since 2013, was replaced.

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