Thomas said a decision on the rest of the week’s classes will be made later.
“We are all devastated by this tragedy,” he said.
Rausch said officers ordered him to leave, but he refused and fired shots, forcing an officer to fire again.
According to Rausch, the shooter died on the spot. He was identified as a student at the school, but his name has not been released.
‘Our greatest fear’
The investigation is continuing and the findings will be shared with the local prosecutor, Rausch said at the news conference.
Rausch said this is not a “school shooting,” but “an officer shooting at a school,” noting that the distinction is important.
“It is our greatest fear of being an active gunman at a school,” Knoxville Police Chief Eve Thomas said at the press conference.
Austin-East Magnet High School is a Title 1 school, a federal program that provides financial assistance to “schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families,” the US Department of Education said.
The school’s website says it has “a focus on performing arts that provides resources including fine arts, CTE and rigorous academic courses.”
Emergency workers trained for incidents like these
The injured officer is “conscious” and “will be fine,” Kincannon said, adding that she spoke to him and he was cheerful.
“I thanked him for risking his life to protect the school’s students and staff, and said he’d rather be hurt than anyone else,” the mayor said.
The Knoxville Fire Department has trained for these types of incidents.
Fire Department Captain Corcoran told CNN in an email that the department, along with the KPD’s SWAT team, were training for incidents like this, “entering a potential hot zone where it is unknown if there is still an active gunman walking around. “.
“Unfortunately, that training was used today in responding to Austin East high school,” said Corcoran. “As for our response to the incident, it was a successful one.”
CNN’s Amir Vera contributed to this report.