KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A West High School student is facing charges after authorities said a gun fired from inside a student's backpack on Friday. Within the next few hours, classes were dismissed and school was over for the day around noon.
According to police, everyone went home safe except for one teacher who suffered a "minor injury."
Catisha McGuire lives in Knoxville and teaches younger generations how to channel negative emotions. She said the gun was an outlet for that student.
"Obviously, the gun was too accessible to him," McGuire said. "He needed that for some purpose or reason and he's somehow picked up on that, that is something acceptable, which it should be not acceptable for that to even be thought of — bringing it to school."
McGuire is the oldest of five kids and was raised by a single mother, and she said her upbringing had its challenges. She said they leaned on a community that gave them support.
This is why she decided to find a way to give back to society. Since she believes that art helps, she started teaching younger generations.
"Poetry is one of the main ways I've been working with children, youth, for like 20 years," McGuire said. "Oh, it helps to just pour out every emotion that you feel is negative. Get everything that you think that how people may have stepped over your boundaries, get that out on paper."
As a child herself, she had a personal experience with violence. When she was a student she said she was physically bullied.
She said there were some girls at a specific spot in her school who used to harass her every time she would walk by. One day, she decided to change route and walk away from that type of behavior.
"Like pushing, hitting, verbal stuff — just things that happen in school that make you feel like you don't want to be there," McGuire said. "But I graduated high school in the top 5% of my class and went on to the Air Force to serve my country."
Now, her ongoing efforts to prevent violence in schools include a new art festival for young people in Knoxville. Friday marked the beginning of the Loveable Poetry Festival where she envisions music, drawings and other forms of art.
She began by saying a few poems at the YWCA.
As for students struggling with any kind of violence, her advice is to find an artistic outlet to express whichever emotions are boiling inside. Her message to younger generations is to write their expressions down and if they're bullied in school, stand up and find a way to support themselves.
"Tell a trusted adult and go forward and know that you can overcome it," McGuire said. "It's a situation that you don't have to hide doesn't have to be a secret. You can tell someone is going to be able to help you out."