Chief John Drake today announced that the MNPD has exhausted all available investigative avenues to identify the person who leaked photographs containing three pages of writings from the Covenant School shooter. The investigation has not identified current MNPD employees, or employees of any partner agency, as engaging in the unauthorized release of the images. Persons placed on administrative assignment for certain periods during the pendency of the investigation have returned to their regular duties.
A number of individuals were interviewed, cooperatively, and electronic devices forensically examined, as part of the investigation. Attempts were made last month to interview a former MNPD detective who possessed the images as part of his official duties. That person declined and is no longer a member of law enforcement. The department does not have the ability to compel statements or cooperation from former employees.
The investigation, led by the police department’s Office of Professional Accountability, determined that the three cell phone photographs were taken in the immediacy of the moment just after the shooter’s journals were discovered in her vehicle. Two detectives assigned to the Specialized Investigations Division took the photos (one detective took two photos, the other took one) as part of intelligence gathering to learn more about the shooter and determine whether anyone else was involved with her.
The case file documenting the investigation is being prepared for presentation to District Attorney Glenn Funk’s office for review. Metropolitan Director of Law Wally Dietz has been briefed on the investigation, which will be advanced with any new or undiscovered information that comes to the attention of the police department.