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DA: No charges against officer in deadly Tennessee school shooting

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Posted at 5:29 PM, Apr 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-21 20:29:43-04

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. Rebekah Hammonds — Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen announced Wednesday that no charges would be filed in last week's deadly officer-involved shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Allen announced Tuesday during a press conference, saying the incident was ruled as a justifiable shooting.

According to The Associated Press, Allen said Officer Jonathan Clabough and three other officers present at the April 12 shooting wouldn't face any charges.17-year-old Anthony Thompson Jr. was shot and killed, and a Knoxville Police Officer, Adam Wilson, was injured.

According to The AP, Wilson was accidentally shot by Clabough.

Allen released the body camera footage of the deadly shooting during the press conference, saying "we have to come up with a better process" of reviewing and releasing footage in officer-involved shooting cases.

In the video, four Knoxville police officers responded to the high school after the mother of Thompson's former girlfriend placed a 911 call about domestic abuse.

The officers are then seen entering the bathroom where they believed Thompson was but did not know when Thompson had a gun.

The officers are then seen on the video locating and attempting to arrest Thompson. As one officer grabbed Thompson's right arm, the video shows Thompson's left arm was in a sweatshirt pocket holding a handgun. The video shows the barrel of the gun peaking through the pocket of the sweatshirt, USA Today reported.

Thompson's gun went off, striking a trash can. The shot confused officers who thought their lives were in danger and one of them being potentially injured.

Clabough is then seen removing his weapon and shooting Thompson in the shoulder. Clabough then fired his gun again as Thompson fell to the ground and other officers surrounding him.

Allen said during the press conference that officers did not know Thompson was shot until two minutes after putting him in handcuffs and turning his body over. That's when they witnessed the large amounts of blood and requested the school nurse for medical assistance.

Rebekah Hammonds at WTVF first reported this story.