Wis. DOJ defends refusal to disclose documents

The Wisconsin state Justice Department has been unusually slow to disclose information pertaining to a shooting spree in which the gunman, Sheriff’s Deputy Tyler Peterson, killed six and wounded another before apparently taking his own life on Oct. 7, according to an Associated Press report.

The department released a heavily redacted assortment of documents related to the murders on Monday in response to an open records request made by the Associated Press and the Wisconsin State Journal. The department also denied another half-dozen requests in full, according to the AP report.

Releasing the documents too early could taint the investigation, the department said. Critics have said the case appears too straightforward to justify wihholding the documents this long.