KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — On the third anniversary of his killing, the Knoxville Police Department is appealing to the public for information to find the person who shot 17-year-old Johnkelian "John-John" Mathis.
Mathis, an Austin-East High School student, was among several people shot at a large "after party" following the annual Lonsdale Homecoming early Aug. 8, 2021.
Police were called to the scene near Sherman Street and Minnesota Avenue. At least 50 people were in the immediate area when the shooting occurred, according to KPD.
Police don't think Mathis was an intended target that morning. No one has been charged.
"In the course of the investigation, detectives learned that one of the other gunshot victims, then 25-year-old Anthony Taylor, had been jumped and assaulted by multiple individuals when shots were fired by multiple individuals," according to KPD on Thursday.
If you have any information that could help lead to an arrest, contact East Tennessee Valley Crime Stoppers at 865-215-7165 or the department's Homicide Unit at 865-215-7317.
Mathis survived an attempt on his life in January 2021.
He and a young woman were ambushed by gunmen in a vehicle as they drove away from Austin-East on Jan. 14, 2021. They ended up at a gas station at Cherry Street and Magnolia Avenue. Police said several young men fired at the pair; Mathis also fired shots with a pistol, according to authorities.
Three people -- Rashan Jordan, Deondre Davis and Ahmad Gatlin -- were tried in that attack last year.
Gatlin was found guilty of two counts of attempted first-degree murder, among other counts.
Jordan was acquitted. The jury couldn't reach a decision in Davis's case. Jordan and Davis have previously been convicted of killing 16-year-old Stanley Freeman Jr. in February 2021 as he left Austin-East. They ambushed him.
