(WVLT/TBI/Peg Broadcasting News)
Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon said Austin-East School Resource Officer Adam Willson is in “good spirits” after he was shot in the leg at the school Monday. Mayor Kincannon shared that Willson said he’d “rather this happen to him than someone else.” WVLT reports that Wilson, a 20-year-veteran with the police department underwent surgery and is now recovering.
Preliminary information from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation indicates that at approximately 3:15 p.m., the Knoxville Police Department received a report of an individual possibly armed with a gun at Austin-East Magnet High School. Upon arrival, officers located the individual inside a school restroom. They ordered him out, but he refused to comply. As officers entered the restroom, the subject reportedly fired shots, striking an officer. One officer returned fire. The subject was pronounced dead at the scene and has since been identified as a student. Authorities did not immediately release the student’s name or any possible motive.