USA TODAY International Edition
Wounded principal hailed as hero
Teen charged in Tenn. school shooting that killed 1, injured 2
JACKSBORO, Tenn. — A 15- year-old boy charged with a school shooting in which an assistant principal died and two other school of ) cials were wounded should be tried as an adult, a prosecutor said Wednesday.
District Attorney Paul Phillips said a juvenile court judge from outside Campbell County, where the shooting occurred Tuesday, will be asked to rule on whether the case against the youth should be transferred to circuit court.
“ It is appropriate that he be tried as an adult and subject to adult penalties,” Phillips said.
Investigators were interviewing hundreds of witnesses and hoped to talk to the two wounded men during the afternoon, he said.
Principal Gary Seale was shot in the abdomen while trying to wrestle the gun from the student. Assistant Principal Jim Pierce was hit in the chest, authorities said. Both were in serious condition in intensive care at University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, spokeswoman Lisa McNeal said.
No students were hurt in the shooting at Campbell County Comprehensive High School.
The administrators and a teacher helped disarm the student, deputies said. Assistant Principal Ken Bruce was shot in the chest and died at a LaFollette hospital, authorities said.
Despite his injury, Seale managed to get to the intercom and order a lockdown, helping to end the rampage, authorities said.
“ This situation could have gotten much worse,” said Mark Wells, vice chairman of the Campbell County Board of Education. “ It did not because our staff followed the ( emergency) plan in place.”
Phillips said the student acted alone and got the .22-caliber handgun used in the shooting from his home.
“ No one else is criminally responsible,” the prosecutor said.
The suspectwas taken to a juvenile detention facility, Sheriff Ron McClellan said. Authorities said he was grazed on the hand by a bullet from his handgun while he was being subdued. The boy’s family declined to comment.
“ He has been in trouble before, but I just wouldn’t expect something like this out of him,” said classmate Courtney Ward, 17. “ He is a big jokester. He is rowdy. But I just couldn’t see him doing this.”
“ I don’t know what he was thinking or what his motives were,” McClellan said. “ Investigators are piecing together . . . what exactly transpired.”
The 1,400- student school about 35 miles northwest Knoxville was closed for the rest of the week, of ) cials said.
Parents rushed to the school to pick up
their children, causing a massive traf ) c jam
when police closed the campus.
“ It is scary, it is terrifying,” said Darren
Davidson, who raced to the school to pick
up his son, Justin.
Seale and Pierce have been educators
more than 30 years, former assistant principal Clifford Kohlmeyer said. Bruce had been
a lieutenant colonel in the Army and came
back to teaching about eight years ago,
Kohlmeyer said.
Tuesday’s shooting marked the second
time this year that a school employee was
fatally shot.
Stewart County school bus driver Joyce
Gregory, 47, was killed as she stopped to
pick up a student on her route on March 1.
Jason Clinard, 15, is charged with her slaying and will be tried as an adult.
In August, a boy was accidentally shot in the leg in a middle school restroom in Jefferson County. The investigation led to charges against two students accused in a plot to kill a teacher at Maury Middle School.
On the Campbell County high school’s website, Seale welcomed incoming students, saying the staff would do its best “ to make these four years as safe and enjoyable as possible.”
“ The next four years will be the best times of your life,” he said. “ Manywonderful memories will be made.” of