Knoxville School Shooting Started With Armed Suspect Report, Ended With One Dead And Cop Wounded

Knoxville, TN – One person is dead and a school resource officer was wounded at a high school in Knoxville on Monday afternoon.

Knoxville police said gunfire erupted shortly after 3 p.m. on April 12 after officers responded to Austin-East Magnet High School for a report of an armed person, NBC News reported.

Police have not said if the gunman was a student.

When officers approached the armed man, “shots were fired,” according to police.

A Knoxville police officer was shot once, NBC News reported.

Police officials have said the officer’s wounds were not life-threatening.

Authorities detained one person for questioning at the scene, NBC News reported.

“A KPD officer was struck at least one time and transported to the UT Medical Center with injuries that are not expected to be life-threatening,” the Knoxville Police Department posted to its official Facebook page. “One male was pronounced deceased at the scene, while another was detained for further investigation. There are no other known gunshot victims.”

Police have not yet released the name of the wounded officer, nor that of the suspect in custody.

Knoxville shooting: One person killed and officer hospitalised as school on lockdown
Police and fire crews raced in large numbers to Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, where one person has lost their life in a shooting pic.twitter.com/iiBkHLeNxm

— Lilian Chan (@bestgug) April 12, 2021

A source told the Knoxville News Sentinel that the dead person was a student.

The officer who was shot was a school resource officer, according to the source.

He was shot in the hip and taken into emergency surgery as soon as he arrived at the hospital, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.

Update: Person dead in Tennessee school shooting, police officer injured. Police say the scene has been secured at the Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville following the afternoon shooting. pic.twitter.com/nu6OueQuJT

— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) April 12, 2021

Knox County Schools Superintendent Bob Thomas called the scene a “tragic situation” and announced the building had been secured, the Associated Press reported.

“The school building has been secured and students who were not involved in the incident have been released to their families,” Thomas said.

Parents were instructed to pick up their children at the baseball field behind the high school near Wilson and South Hembree.

“I’m walking up to the scene now, all I can say is pray,” Knoxville Vice Mayor Gwen McKenzie told WVLT as she approached the scene.

At least one person is dead and one officer has been injured after a shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, according to police.

Police say one person has been detained for further investigation. pic.twitter.com/Lno7jTH8h0

— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 12, 2021

Multiple law enforcement agencies including the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) responded to the scene to assist.

#BREAKING US School Shooting:
One person is dead and a police officer injured after a shooting at a high school in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Police responded to the shooting on Monday afternoon local time at Austin-East Magnet High School, with officers reporting multiple victims. pic.twitter.com/jCJWaLDjtu

— 10 News First Adelaide (@10NewsFirstAdl) April 12, 2021

Austin-East Magnet High School was in the news in February after three students were fatally shot in a period of three weeks, the Associated Press reported.

Those shootings did not happen at campus and administrators at the time told the Knoxville News Sentinel they felt their arts magnet school was a safe place.