Thomas said a decision on the rest of the week’s classes will be made later.
“We are all devastated by this tragedy,” he said.
Rausch said officers ordered him, but he refused and fired shots, prompting one officer to return.
According to Rausch, the gunman died at the scene. He was identified as a student at the school, but his name was not released.
‘Our worst fear’
The investigation is continuing and the findings will be shared with the local district attorney, Rausch said during the press conference.
Rausch said it was not a ‘school shooting’ but an ‘officer shooting at a school’, citing the distinction important.
“This is our biggest fear, an active shooter in a school,” Knoxville Police Chief Eve Thomas told the news conference.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, Austin-East Magnet High School is a Title 1 school, which is a federal program that provides financial aid to ‘schools with a high or high percentage of children from low-income families.
The school’s website focuses on performing arts that provide resources, including visual arts, CTE, and rigorous academic courses. ‘
Respondents trained for such incidents
The injured officer is “conscious” and “going to recover,” Kincannon said, adding that she spoke to him and that he was in a good mood.
“I thanked him for putting his life on the line to protect the students and staff at the school, and he said he would rather be than anyone else,” the mayor said.
The fire department in Knoxville trained for these types of incidents.
Fire Chief Corcoran told CNN in an email that the department, along with the KPD’s SWAT team, had been training for incidents like this, “to enter a potential hot zone where it is unknown whether there is another active shot is.
“Unfortunately, the training was used today when responding to Austin East High School,” Corcoran said. “As far as our response to the incident was concerned, it was a successful one.”
CNN’s Amir Vera contributed to this report.