A school shooting has occurred in Knoxville, Tennessee. A currently unnamed suspect fired shots at Austin-East Magnet High School. Multiple individuals have allegedly been shot, and one was confirmed to be a police officer.
The officer who was shot has been transported to the hospital. Per the Knoxville Police Department, there is one confirmed death at the high school.
– Officer Involved Shooting at Austin East High School – @TBInvestigation will be the lead investigating agency and provide further information as it becomes available. pic.twitter.com/Hjetzf1vNT
— Knoxville Police TN (@Knoxville_PD) April 12, 2021
According to a WVLT-TV article published last month, four different adolescents affiliated with Austin-East Magnet High School were murdered by gunshot in 2021. Officials claim the school was not directly affiliated with these murders. Three of these students were fifteen and one was sixteen years old. One student, Jamarion Gillette had been missing since October. A suspect was allegedly arrested for the January 27th murder, but the public has not been told if the other three murders were done by the same suspect. These four deaths occurred on Jan. 27, Feb. 12, February 16, and March 9. There is currently no public evidence to suggest the four student murders are related to the school shooting.
“This is the fourth unnecessary shooting involving the Austin East community this year and we must make sure we take every step and make every effort to prevent these tragedies from continuing to occur,” stated State Rep. Sam McKenzie.
Four days before the April 12th school shooting, Governor Bill Zoe tweeted “I signed Constitutional carry today because it shouldn’t be hard for law-abiding Tennesseans to exercise their #2A rights. Thank you members of the General Assembly and @NRA for helping get this done.”
The suspect from today’s shooting — a male — has been taken into police custody.
More information to come as the story develops.
