The parents of the assailant who killed six people at a Nashville Christian school in March will transfer legal ownership of the writings their child left behind to the families of roughly 100 students, providing unexpected support to those families’ efforts to prevent the release of the documents. The surprise decision, outlined in a Tennessee courtroom on Thursday, could prove crucial in an increasingly fierce legal battle over whether the writings should be made public to shed light on the shooter’s motivations or kept private to shield the victims from further pain. The lawyer for the shooter’s parents, David Raybin, did not say in court how or why they had come to the decision. But speaking to reporters, he acknowledged that it strengthened the argument that the families should be allowed to participate in a lawsuit aimed at forcing the release of the writings as a matter of public record. The parents of students at the Covenant School, along with the school itself and the adjoining church, have said the writings should never be released, citing fears of inspiring another mass shooting and further traumatizing their children.

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Persons: David Raybin Organizations: Nashville Christian, Covenant School Locations: Tennessee