KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Three schools in East Knoxville will be moving to virtual classes until after spring break following the shooting death of a fourth teen who went to Austin-East High School.
Knox County Schools announced Wednesday Austin-East, Vine Middle School and Sarah Moore Greene Elementary School will move to online-only learning on Thursday and Friday.
The school said this is expected to last for at least those two days, and students will return to in-person classes following Spring Break on Monday, March 22.
KCS said the decision was made "to be supportive of school communities and to provide an opportunity for healing in light of recent events."
Jamarion Gillette, a 15-year-old boy who KCS said last attended Austin-East in fall of 2020, was shot to death overnight. Knoxville police are still investigating and are unsure where the shooting happened.
A stranger found the boy wounded in the Cherokee Trail area of South Knoxville and took him to nearby University of Tennessee Medical Center, where police said he later died.
On Tuesday afternoon around 1:30 p.m., police said they also responded to a report of possible shots being fired around Sarah Moore Greene Elementary School at 3001 Brooks Avenue.
A witness claimed they saw two vehicles chasing each other through the parking lot of the school, but police were unable to locate anyone at the scene.
Police later said one of the victims called, who claimed they had gone to Teleserve to report they had been shot at. Officers responded, and said the victim said their child had been assaulted at Austin-East earlier in the day.
When the victim picked up the child, they said a white sedan began following them on Brooks Avenue, so they drove through the parking lot of the elementary school to evade them. The victim said they then believe a passenger in the sedan began shooting at them, and they drove directly to police headquarters.
Officers said witnesses claimed to see a vehicle stop on Brooks Avenue before a door opened and someone shot at the victim's vehicle, saying they heard three gunshots. Officers said they were unable to see any weapon or gunfire from the surveillance footage they had of the incident, but did locate a single shell casing on the north side of the road.