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Officer Involved Shooting With 17-Year-Old In High School Bathroom
Published 3 years ago
On April 12, 2021 Officers were called to Austin-East High in Knoxville, TN after a domestic fight broke out. The armed suspect in the incident, Anthony Thompson Jr. and his ex-girlfriend had multiple domestic incidents during school hours that day.
School faculty became involved when Thompson's ex-girlfriend reported the domestic abuse and informed them of his erratic behavior.
When Officers arrive to confront Thompson, he was found in one of the schools bathrooms with a friend. The officers approached Thompson to remove him from the bathroom stall when a struggle began. In that moment of struggle, one officer spots a firearm on Thompson. The officer began calling out "he has a gun" seconds before a single shot rings out from Thompson's firearm.
In response, one of the Officers fires two shots, one striking Thompson and the other striking Officer Willson by accident. Anthony Thompson was treated on site, but later succumbed to his wounds.
There is still a further investigation taking place on the schools behalf and an additional investigation for the justification of the shooting.
There are many issues with this scenario. For teenage domestic violence, Thompson should have been taken off the premises well before this encounter, let alone allowing someone being armed on school grounds. I'm a firm believer that security on school grounds should be stricter in the essence of searching/scanning bags and persons. Let us know what you think in the comments below.