shooting at knoxville high school

A shooting at Central High School ended the day before it even began as one student was fatally shot Thursday morning. Students were in the cafeteria of the school when witnesses said they saw two male students shoving and would end with the death of Ryan McDonald, age 15.

The school went into lockdown immediately as students run into rooms and teachers locked doors. Other area schools were also put into lockdown mode. 

The shooting occurred at 8:11 a.m. and the school resource officer was at the school at the time. By 8:13 a.m. Knoxville officers had arrived at the school. By 8:17 a.m., a suspect was in custody. McDonald was taken to UT Medical center where at 8:57 a.m.  he was pronounced deceased.

School was not yet in for the day as students gathered in the cafeteria,  the regular gathering place before classes begin.

Panicked parents began returning to the area around the school as soon as they heard about the shooting.

Students were released from school in an orderly fashion and school was cancelled for the day.

Nearly 1400 students attend Central High School. School officials reported that the shooter and the victim new each other and were both Central High School students.

Debra Cline Director of Curriculum Instruction Sevier County told the Seymour Herald, “We are keeping the students faculty and staff of Central High School in our thoughts and prayers and our thoughts and prayer especially go out to the family of the student who lost his life.”

With the school year just beginning, many parents have fear that this same type of tragedy could occur at their child’s school.

According to Cline, “ Every one of our schools has a crisis management plan in place. We do everything that we can to try to insure the safety of our student’s everyday. The safety and security of our students is our top priority. Our parents can be assured we consistently stay alert to make sure precautions are taken. Like everyone around the county we have great sympathy for those who experienced the event at Central High School.”

Prayer meetings were scheduled around the Central High School area to help parents, students and the community help deal with this tragic loss.