The perpetrator died in an exchange of gunfire at a school in Tennessee

Yesterday 22:22

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Police responded to reports that a man was carrying a weapon at the school and found him entrenched inside a toilet at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville on Monday, investigating authorities said at a press conference.

The man then opened fire when the police ordered him to come out, and the police fired back. The student died at the school, and a police officer was injured and taken to hospital for surgery, it was further stated.

Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon tells WATE-TV that she has spoken to the wounded police officer, who is conscious and in good spirits.

In a Twitter message, the police first asked people to stay away from the area. However, the Knoxville sheriff, Tom Spangler, stated shortly after his father was over that there was no longer any active threat.

A spokesman for the school authorities in Knoxville, Bob Thomas , stated that the school was secured and that students who were not involved in the incident were sent home.

The school is located about 290 miles east of the state capital Nashville.

Several students shot earlier

Three students at Austin-East Magnet have been shot and killed in incidents outside the school grounds during three weeks this year, according to police. Two of them were only 15 years old, while the third was 16.

State Representative Sam McKenzie, who represents the district and went to school, said in a statement that he has no words for how upset he is.

“This is the fourth unnecessary shooting episode to hit the community around Austin-East this year, and we must do everything we can to prevent these tragedies from continuing to happen,” he said in a statement.

New gun law

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a new law last week that allows adults over the age of 21 in the state to carry firearms freely, even concealed, without first having to undergo a background check.

The police are opposed to the change in the law, which enters into force on 1 July, and argue that the existing rules have been important in order to determine who can and should be given the opportunity to carry a weapon.

So far this year, 5,220 firearms killings have been recorded in the United States, including 142 mass shootings in which more than four have been killed or injured, according to Gun Violence Archive.