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Officer Wounded At Tennessee High School Was Not Shot By Student, Officials Say

(Gabriel Hébert-Røuillier/Twitter screenshot)

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Andrew Trunsky Political Reporter
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A police officer wounded in a shooting at a Knoxville, Tennessee, high school Monday was not believed to have been shot by the armed student, authorities said.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), which is leading the case, said that there was a struggle and the student’s gun shot once before police fired twice in return, the TBI said in a statement Wednesday.

“Preliminary examinations indicate the bullet that struck the KPD officer was not fired from the student’s handgun,” according to the statement.

Authorities originally responded to Austin-East Magnet High School after reports of a possible armed person surfaced, and the TBI originally said that the student “reportedly fired shots, striking an officer.” (RELATED: Police: One Dead, Officer Injured At Tennessee High School)

“TBI’s findings will be shared with the District Attorney General throughout the investigative process, which remains active and ongoing,” the statement said.

The student was killed after encountering police, and has been identified as Anthony J. Thompson, Jr., 17. The officer was transported to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The TBI did not say who shot the officer, or which officers fired the two shots when engaged with the armed student, though it did say that officers entered the restroom where Thompson was located.

Thompson was the only fatality in Monday’s shooting, and the injured officer was the only other casualty.

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