Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has released new information contradicting its original statement that the student shot the officer.
A student was killed and a police officer was wounded during an officer-involved shooting at a school in Knoxville, Tennessee, on Monday, authorities said. Officials said the shooting occurred after police found a student with a gun in a bathroom at Austin-East Magnet High School.
At 3:15 p.m. local time, police responded to a report of a male who was possibly armed in the school. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said Monday that police found the suspect in a school restroom. Police ordered him out, but he refused.
Rausch also said Monday that as police entered the restroom, the student “reportedly fired shots, striking an officer,” and that the student was killed when officers returned fire.
But in an updated statement Thursday, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation released new information contradicting the claim that the student was the one who shot the officer.
“Officers entered the restroom. During a subsequent struggle, the student’s gun was fired,” the bureau said in a new statement. “This was followed by law enforcement firing twice.”
“Preliminary examinations indicate the bullet that struck the KPD officer was not fired from the student’s handgun,” the bureau added.
Students who were not involved in the incident were sent home, said Bob Thomas, the superintendent of Knox County Schools. Prior to Monday’s violence, four students have been fatally shot this year alone.
Wade Payne / AP
