KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The police officer who shot and killed a student in a Tennessee high school will not face criminal charges, a district attorney announced Wednesday.
Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen said she determined the shooting of 17-year-old Anthony J. Thompson Jr. by Knoxville police Officer Jonathon Clabough was “justifiable” under Tennessee’s self-defense law. Allen added that she wouldn’t press any other charges against the three other officers present at the time of the April 12 shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School in the East Tennessee city.
“It wasn’t an easy case; it wasn’t clean cut,” Allen told reporters during a lengthy news conference where she released for the first time the various police body camera tapes, surveillance footage, 911 audio and other documents surrounding the shooting.
According to the video, four officers responded to the school after a domestic abuse call from the mother of Thompson’s former girlfriend. The officers went into a bathroom where they believed Thompson was, but Allen’s office said the officers did not know Thompson was carrying a handgun.
The next steps occurred in less than 15 seconds. The video shows the officers locating and then attempting to handcuff Thompson. One officer grabbed Thompson’s right arm, but Thompson’s left arm was in his sweatshirt pocket where the video shows he was holding a handgun. The barrel of the weapon could be seen peaking through the pocket. Thompson’s weapon went off, hitting a trash can but not any of the officers.