The day after a student was killed and an officer wounded during an exchange of gunfire inside Austin-East High School, community members gathered to pray.
Around noon on Tuesday, several dozen people, including men, women and children, stood together to offer their support and pray for those impacted by the recent violence.
The Austin-East community has had to deal with a tremendous amount of loss in recent months. This is the fifth current or former Austin-East student involved in a shooting just this year.
On Monday, TBI said the officers responded to a report that the male student had a gun at school. When they confronted him in the bathroom, TBI said the student shot at the officer, wounding one of them. The officers returned fire, killing the student.
Investigators still have not identified the student.
The officer has been identified as Adam Willson, a 20 year veteran of KPD who is currently serving as the School Resource Officer at Austin-East. He had surgery for a bullet wound to the leg Tuesday morning and is expected to recover.
Photos: Community prays for East Knoxville
Pastor Daryl Arnold and other faith leaders across Knoxville will host a citywide prayer meeting on Tuesday at Overcoming Believers Church at 6 p.m.
Everyone is welcome.
Pastor Arnold said gun violence is something students have had to face too many times.
Pastor Arnold officiated funerals for 3 of the 4 teens shot and killed in Knoxville this year.