1 Dead In Shooting At Austin-East Magnet School In Knoxville

KNOXVILLE, TN — One person has died in a school shooting Monday afternoon in Knoxville.

Multiple people, including a Knoxville police officer, were shot at Austin-East Magnet High School around 3:15 p.m., police in the city said. The police officer was shot "at least one time" and is expected to survive.

Police said the person who died is a man, but his identity and age had not been released as of 5 p.m. He was a teenager, the Knoxville News Sentinel has reported.

One person has been taken into custody, but charges weren't immediately filed. There weren't any other known shooting victims at the school, on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, police said.

The wounded police officer was hospitalized at the University of Tennessee Medical Center and is in "good spirits," Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon told WATE, the ABC affiliate in Knoxville.

Kincannon said the officer would "rather this happen to him than someone else," according to the WATE report.

Bob Thomas, superintendent of the Knox County school district that includes Austin-East, said the school has been "secured" and students "who were not involved in the incident have been released to their families," according to a statement on Twitter.

"We are gathering information about this tragic situation and will provide additional information as soon as possible," Thomas wrote.

Multiple agencies are on the scene of a shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School. Multiple gunshot victims reported, including a KPD officer. The investigation remains active at this time. Please avoid the area. pic.twitter.com/ViQirnQSpx
— Knoxville Police TN (@Knoxville_PD) April 12, 2021

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is among the police agencies investigating the school shooting, the agency confirmed on Twitter. A medical examiner's vehicle was seen leaving the school at 5 p.m., the News Sentinel reported.

Austin-East was the subject of media reports in February after three students were shot to death over a three-week span.

Those earlier shootings did not take place in the school, and administrators at the time said students felt the arts magnet school was a safe space, according to a story in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

This is a developing story. Refresh this page for updates.