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At least one dead in shooting at high school

A student has been shot and killed by police after allegedly opening fire on police responding to a report of a gunman at a US high school.

The student was found in a bathroom at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, 290 kilometres east of Nashville, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David B. Rausch said.

They ordered him out but he wouldn't comply and that's when he reportedly opened fire, Rausch said on Monday (local time).

Police fired back.

A member of the Knoxville police forensics team works the scene of a shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville, Tenn., Monday, April 12, 2021. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
A member of the Knoxville police forensics team works the scene of a shooting at Austin-East Magnet High School in Knoxville. Source: AP

The student was pronounced dead at the school and an officer who was shot in the upper leg has been taken into surgery.

The officer is expected to recover, and no one else was hurt. It wasn’t yet clear why the student brought a gun to school or why he fired at officers.

Police say Austin-East Magnet High School has now been secured and there is no ongoing threat to the public.

Unverified video on social media showed two officers leading a handcuffed male away from the scene without struggle.

Tennessee governor Bill Lee described the shooting as “very difficult and tragic”.

Students not involved in the incident have been released to their families.

Authorities say the site is now secured. Source: AAP
Authorities say the site is now secured. Source: AAP

Police initially tweeted multiple gunshot victims had been reported.

The shooting comes as the community reels from off-campus gun violence that left three other students dead earlier this year.

The school was the subject of media reports in February when the three students were shot to death over a three-week span. Two of the victims were 15, the other 16.

Those earlier shootings did not take place in the school, and administrators at the time said students felt the arts magnet school was a safe space, according to a story in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

With AP

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