Austin students killed

Four days after that, a co-captain of the dance team was shot dead. In early March, a year-old who last attended classes in the fall died from gunshot wounds. And last week, Anthony J. Thompson Jr. The shooting death of Mr. Thompson, who the authorities said fired a pistol and struck a trash can in the bathroom moments before he was killed, echoed a series of violent confrontations between African-Americans and law enforcement officers.

But it also stirred an all-too familiar anguish in a community that residents said has been gripped in an epidemic of gun violence besieging its young people. In several of the shootings, teenagers as young as 14 have been arrested. The authorities said the confrontation with Mr. Thompson escalated because he was armed. Please, help him! Thompson was pierced in the heart and lungs by a single bullet. The shooting, which prosecutors in Knoxville, Tenn. Allen, the Knox County district attorney general.

At a recent community talent show, girls performed dances they learned from TikTok in T-shirts that memorialized one classmate. And I hope and pray that no one else has to get hurt. The streets surrounding the school are dotted with overgrown lots and abandoned storefronts, evidence, residents say, of neglect and the entrenched poverty pervading the neighborhood. The school draws its students mostly from those East Knoxville neighborhoods, and residents describe it as an anchor for the community.

Students and parents like to boast about the dance and arts programs. But they also complain of outdated textbooks and a shortage of counselors.

And in a community that has seen an uptick in crime in recent years, Ms. Muhammad said students were acquainted with deadly violence well before the recent fatal shootings. Knox County Schools declined to comment on the shootings, but officials said that counseling and other services were available. The anger and sorrow in the community built up as the killings continued.

Justin Taylor was killed on Jan. Then, Stanley Freeman Jr. A year-old boy and a year-old boy face first-degree murder charges , officials said. Four days later, Janaria Muhammad was found unconscious with a gunshot wound.

Jamarion Gillette , who officials said had not been to school since September, was fatally shot on March 9. It also came amid an uproar in Chicago over the release of body-camera footage showing the shooting of Adam Toledo, a year-old who tossed a handgun behind a fence before he was killed by a police officer.

Allen, the Knoxville prosecutor, had initially resisted calls by activists, local elected officials and even the chief of the Knoxville Police Department to release body-camera footage of Mr. He also plans to write Mathis' name on his turf tape and sleeves on game days. Monday afternoon, police released more information about the shooting, saying it happened as several hundred people were gathered outside following the Lonsdale Homecoming. Three people were shot in the early morning hours Sunday in front of a gathering of people near Minnesota Avenue and Pascal Drive.

Mathis died, and two people were wounded. Police Chief Eve Thomas asked anyone who witnessed the shooting or know about it to share the information.

She pointed out there are ways, like Crime Stoppers , for people to remain anonymous in the process. It is imperative as we seek justice for this senseless act of violence. People are dying, it's not OK. We've done more than ever before but we need to do more. And we need to be here for students, they lost their classmate," Campbell told Knox News on Monday morning. Anyone with information that could help the investigation into the fatal shooting of Mathis is urged to contact Crime Stoppers by phone at , online at easttnvalleycrimestoppers.

Tipsters remain anonymous and may be eligible to receive a cash reward. Isabel Lohman reports on children's education, health, welfare and opportunities in East Tennessee. Twitter Email mobile. Live each day with the knowledge you need for you, your family and your community by subscribing to Knox News. Connect with Tyler: Twitter Email. Make our community, our society and our republic stronger by supporting robust local journalism.

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