The Knoxville Police Department (KPD) at the end of last week that a teenage suspect was in custody after accidentally discharging a firearm inside a high school.
“An investigation is underway after a gun possessed by a student at West High School discharged in a classroom. Preliminarily [it] appears that the gun was in the student’s backpack,” KPD said on Twitter. “A teacher was grazed either by the bullet or bullet fragment. No serious injuries were reported. The student is in custody and the gun is accounted for.”
A teacher was grazed either by the bullet or bullet fragment. No serious injuries were reported. The student is in custody and the gun is accounted for. (2/2)
— Knoxville Police TN (@Knoxville_PD) April 28, 2023
“The WHS student involved has been charged with reckless endangerment, reckless aggravated assault and possession of a weapon on school grounds. The discharge of the weapon was not intentional and discharged in the backpack. The injuries to the teacher were very minor,” the police department said in a later update.
UPDATE: The subject now charged with reckless endangerment, reckless aggravated assault and possession of a weapon on school grounds was identified as a 14-year-old male. His identity is being withheld due to his juvenile status.
— Knoxville Police TN (@Knoxville_PD) April 28, 2023
“The subject now charged with reckless endangerment, reckless aggravated assault and possession of a weapon on school grounds was identified as a 14-year-old male,” KPD said in its final update. His identity is being withheld due to his juvenile status.”
It is illegal to possess a firearm on school grounds.
News of the accidental shooting comes while Tennesseans are still on edge, only one month after a mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, carried out by 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as transgender.
The motive for that shooting has not yet been released, despite pressure from Tennessee lawmakers and the public at large.
A highly-anticipated “manifesto” was set to be released to the public, before the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) walked back that term.
MNPD says a “manifesto” will not be released.
Rather, a collection of Hale’s dated journals will be made publicly available on a still unspecified date.
Whether those journals will reveal Hale’s motive remains unclear. It is also unclear the extent to which the journals will be redacted, if at all.
“The writings are essentially dated journals,” Don Aaron, an MNPD spokesman, told The Star last week. “While the word manifesto was used on the first day, we have since referred to these as ‘writings’ or ‘journals.’”
“The investigation is now at the stage that we have begun the close review process for the anticipated public release of written material,” he said. “There is not a date certain as [sic] this moment.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “West High School” by Alexandra Victoria.
