Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

As it happenedended
3 years ago

Knoxville school shooting: One killed and another detained as gunfire left police officer wounded

Graig Graziosi,Justin Vallejo
Monday 12 April 2021 19:59 EDT
0Comments
Knoxville Police on the scene of a shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School
Knoxville Police on the scene of a shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School (Knoxville Police Department)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

One man was killed and a police officer injured at a Tennessee high school shooting on Monday afternoon.

Knoxville police confirmed that the man reportedly armed was killed in a shootout at Austin-East Magnet High School around 3.15 pm local time.

“Upon approach of the subject, shots were fired,” police said in a statement.

One man was pronounced dead at the scene while another was detained for questioning, the statement said. A video circulating online appeared to show an individual in handcuffs being led away from the school.

Police said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation would lead the probe into the shooting, while the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed special agents from their Nashville office responded to assist law enforcement.

The police officer was taken to UT Medical Centre with non-life-threatening injuries, and not other gunshot wounds were reported.

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon said she visited the officer, who was “in good spirits” and said he’d rather it be him who was shot than someone else.

The school has a recent history of gun violence among its current and former students.

Janaria Muhammad, 15, Justin Taylor, 15, and Stanley Freeman Jr, 16, were students at the school when killed in shootings that occurred away various locations away from the campus in recent months. Jamarion Gillett, 15, previously attended the school in the fall of 2020 before he was killed in a separate incident on 9 March.

This latest incident follows recent mass shootings Colorado, Atlanta and South Carolina that have led to a push by the Biden administration for gun control reforms.

Thus far there have been 130 mass shootings since the start of 2021, more than during the same period in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

3 years ago

Knoxville police say there are “no other known gunshot victims"

The Knoxville Police released a statement detailing the shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School, that said the shooting occurred when an officer approached an individual in the school who appeared to be armed.

The statement claims that as the officer approached, gunfire erupted, and the officer was struck.

Reports claim one individual has been killed, another was detained, and the officer was wounded and transported to the hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries.”

The statement also claims there were no other individuals wounded in the shooting.

Graig Graziosi12 April 2021 22:47
3 years ago

Knoxville news confuses shootings a mile apart

An anchor on local broadcaster WVLT8 appeared to confuse the Knoxville school shooting for another shooting being investigated a mile down the road.

“Oh this is live, so they are still, um, this… ahh, gotcha, ok. It’s, forgot about the other shooting, so this is actually live, this is not our taped footage from Austin-East high school earlier,” she said.

“The Knox county sheriff's office has got their helicopter back in the air because again we do have that other shooting investigation now underway about a mile away from the high school.”

Justin Vallejo12 April 2021 23:25
3 years ago

Four Austin-East students killed by gun violence in past four months

The school at the centre of today’s shooting has a recent history of gun violence among its current and former students, according to local reports.

Janaria Muhammad, 15, Justin Taylor, 15, and Stanley Freeman Jr, 16, were students at the school when killed in shootings that occurred away various locations away from the campus in recent months, Knox News reported.

Jamarion Gillett, 15, previously attended the school in the fall of 2020 before he was killed in a separate incident on 9 March.

Police had previously said there was no evidence the shootings of the teenagers were related.

Following their deaths, Knoxville City Council approved $1m for violence prevention, with the first contract approved for anti-violence group Cities United just last week, the outlet reported.

Justin Vallejo12 April 2021 23:53
3 years ago

One killed and another detained for questioning in school shooting that wounded police officer

Knoxville police confirmed that the man reportedly armed was killed in a shootout at the school around 3.15 pm local time.

“Upon approach of the subject, shots were fired,” police said in a statement.

One man was pronounced dead at the scene while another was detained for questioning, the statement said. A video circulating online appeared to show an individual in handcuffs being led away from the school.

Police said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation would lead the probe into the shooting, while the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed special agents from their Nashville office responded to assist law enforcement.

‘Multiple gunshot victims’ at Knoxville school

Suspect reported killed and another person taken into custody for questioning
Justin Vallejo13 April 2021 00:02
3 years ago

Injured officer was the school’s resource officer, reports

The injured Knoxville Police Department officer was the resource officer for Austin-East Magnet High School, according to the Knoxville News Sentinel.

Quoting a police source not authorized to speak to media, the Sentinel reported that the officer was shot in the hip during the shootout.

Justin Vallejo13 April 2021 00:36
3 years ago

Justin Vallejo13 April 2021 00:59

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

0Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in