NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation searched the home belonging to the former Metro Nashville Police Department officer who was identified during an investigation into the Covenant shooter’s leaked writings School. The documents were leaked to a Tennessee media outlet which then published them.

The TBI confirmed to WSMV4 Investigates that the Portland home of former MNPD Officer Garet Davidson was searched “several weeks ago as part of an ongoing investigation.”

WSMV4 investigators have confirmed, through two separate checks of property records in Robertson County, that the home searched by investigators is owned by Davidson.

Additionally, the former Nashville officer is linked to the leaks via a statement document from Lt. Alfredo Arevalo.

In the document, Arevalo states:

6. A hard drive containing the complete file of the criminal investigation was delivered to me in person on November 7, 2023. Upon receipt of the file, I did not consult it; I had no reason to do so given the progress of the leak investigation. Instead, I gave the external drive containing the criminal investigation file to then-OPA lieutenant Garet Davidson for storage in the OPA safe located in his office. Mr. Davidson was the only person at that time who had the key and combination to the locked safe.

7. On November 20, 2023, I personally saw Mr. Davidson open the OPA safe and retrieved the hard drive. I then personally delivered the hard drive containing the criminal investigation file to the MNPD Homicide Unit and watched Lt. Brent Gibson store it in their locked safe.

8. At the end of December 2023, Mr. Davidson resigned from the MNPD.

9. On June 4, 2024, Mr. Davidson appeared on the Tennessee Star radio show and was interviewed by Michael Patrick Leahy. In this interview, he discussed the contents of a memo the FBI sent to the MNPD regarding the Covenant School shooting that had not previously been made public. A day later, on June 5, 2024, the Tennessee Star said it had obtained dozens of pages from the shooter’s diary from a source. The Tennessee Star then began publishing stories about the contents of the Covenant School criminal investigation file. Mr. Davidson continued to appear on Leahy’s radio show for interviews about the Covenant School criminal investigation file, although at no time did he play an active or passive role in the criminal investigation of the Covenant School or in the subsequent administrative investigation into the leak.

11. In attempting to identify the source of this information leak, I learned from Covenant School investigative supervisors assigned to the Criminal Investigation Division that the information contained in the Tennessee Star stories is the same which were on file in November 2023 when I gave it to Mr. Davidson for storage in his OPA office.

You can read Lieutenant Arevalo’s full statement by clicking on this link.

In September, the Tennessee Star published 90 pages of what it said was the diary seized during a search of the Covenant School shooter’s home and vehicle on the day of the shooting that left six people dead. people. The outlet published the handwritten journal that they say was found in the school shooter’s car on March 27, 2023, and was obtained legally through a source involved in the Covenant School investigation .

The Tennessee Star published the writings despite a court order sealing them. It was one of several parties that had already filed a lawsuit to force the Metropolitan Government to release at least 20 diaries, a suicide note and a memoir written by the shooter.

Shortly after the leaked writings were published, WSMV4 Investigates contacted MNPD for comment. Although the department declined to comment, a police spokesperson said MNPD “remains very concerned about this situation and wants to know who is responsible.”

Also following the publication, Leahy released a statement on the StarThe website asserted the publication’s First Amendment right to publish the review and expressed a willingness to fight any legal action aimed at disparaging them.

In July, Davidson County Chancellor I’ashea Myles ruled that the writings would not be published. Myles’ decision was based on a number of factors, including a federal copyright law that exempts writings from disclosure and school safety information that could endanger others if it fell between bad hands.

WSMV4 Investigates reached out to Davidson for comment and has not yet received a response. This is a developing story.

WSMV4 reported on Davidson before he was identified in the leak investigation. In May 2024, Davidson alleged that MNPD officers committed unethical acts. Davidson said officers worked with lawmakers to abolish community watch boards across the state, including in Nashville.

“I come to you today to explain why I filed a 61-page complaint with the MNPD,” Davidson said in a statement video he created.

The document contains nine different complaints, but one claims two police officers worked with lawmakers to limit independent review of allegations of police misconduct. The law abolished the Community Oversight Board, which had the authority to investigate alongside the MNPD’s Office of Professional Accountability (OPA).

“I think one of the consequences that agents are already seeing from this change in law is an increase in the number of investigations being conducted by OPA,” Davidson said in the video.

Davidson said in his complaint that MNPD Chief John Drake was aware of the lobbying between officers and lawmakers. Drake didn’t mention it in his recent statement to the media, only that the MNPD is reviewing the complaint and will investigate.

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