Photo: Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
Published April 26, 2021
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
The officers involved in a deadly shooting at Austin-East high school in Knoxville will not face any charges. The announcement was made by Knox County District Attorney, Charme Allen, on Wednesday, April 21 during her press conference.
“This is a self-defense case,” Allen said. “At the end of the day, we have found the shooting by Officer Clabough was justified.”
The DA said the cops would not face any charges, as they had reason to believe their lives, and the lives of other officers were in danger. She also had her office release security and body cam footage.
After the decision was announced, some Knoxville citizens took to the street to protest. One such citizen, Denzel Grant, said he was surprised about Allen’s decision.
“I was surprised with the decision of no charges being filed, like I said, because, I feel like as a country, we’ve made progress when it comes to holding those officers accountable. And so for Knoxville to take a step back after yesterday, it’s disappointing,” He said. “Not only losing a community member, a young man in our community, but for us to not receive any justification, or for no one to be held accountable for that. It’s frustrating.”
The shooting happened on April 12, when seventeen-year-old Anthony Thompson Jr. was found in a school restroom with a gun. There was an altercation where gunfire was exchanged which led to an officer, Adam Wilson who also acts as the school’s Resource Officer, being shot and wounded. Thompson was pronounced dead at the scene.
While Wilson was injured, an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations found that he had not been shot by Thompson’s gun. Officer Clabough said he fired a second shot, which then hit Wilson.
During Allen’s press conference, she said the incident started when Thompson and a female student had a domestic situation. The female student left and her mother called the police.
Officers responded to the call by going to Austin-East to arrest Thompson for domestic violence. Allen said when they showed up, they saw Thompson had a gun. Reports say that he fired a shot into a trash can. When officers returned fire, he was fatally shot.
During the press conference, Allen was asked if the cops knew Thompson had a gun, to which she said no.
“None of them in their statements say they thought he had it at school.”
Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly spoke during a recent City Council Meeting to address the verdict.
“We were all stopped cold in our tracks to see if justice would be served, and today at least, I think we can say that it was,” Kelly said. “As Martin Luther King Jr. said, the moral arc of history is bent towards justice, and we saw that tonight, and we are grateful for it.”
“Still, we can’t lose perspective when there is a life lost,” he added. “We have a lot more work to do, but I’m committed to doing that work alongside all of you and privileged for the opportunity to do so.”
2 Responses
No reason for protest in this case. Seems the first to fire was Thompson; which put officers lives in danger. In the situation it appears the officer did what was necessary which meant stopping the shooter before he killed an officer or perhaps the girl he was angered with. Justice was done!!! It was not a step backward as stated. Regardless of skin color we cannot turn our heads and allow behavior such as Thompson showed that day. Stop protesting about the police stopping a dangerous situation.
Well hey uh; if a police officer is present and you have possession of a gun, you don’t shoot a trash can. You lay the damn gun down and put your hands up! Officer justified shooting!! Sorry about y’all bleeding hearts!!