Protesters are growing more restless after a Knoxville Police Department officer killer 17-year-old Anthony J. Thompson at Austin-East Magnet High School on April 12. The incident occurred when four officers, Adam Willson, Stanley Cash, Jonathon Clabough and Brian Baldwin, responded to a call about a student having a gun. When they arrived, they reportedly encountered Thompson in one of the school's restrooms. During the encounter, Thomspon was shot and killed while another officer suffered minor injuries.
Immediately, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation began looking into the matter. Their first report indicated that Thompson shot at the cops first and the officers returned fire. However, conflicting reports have suggested that the bullet that hit the officer in question did come from Thompson's gun.
“Originally they said the reason why he got shot was [that] he shot the officer, but then that wasn’t true. So I’m hoping we’ll see what actually happened,” Knoxville resident Aimee Jackson told WATE.
Joining her constituents, Knoxville Mayor Indya Kincannon, Cash, Baldwin and Clabough have asked that body camera footage of the incident be released. District Attorney Charme Allen has denied these requests because she believes releasing the footage would “taint the criminal integrity of this case.”
"In the days following this tragic incident, there has been significant confusion over what occurred," attorney Donald A. Bosch, the lawyer of the officers involved, stated,
"In an effort to accurately inform the public, all three officers fully support the release of all unedited body camera footage related to this incident. As Mayor Kincannon has publicly expressed, she, along with these officers, agree that the public interest is best served by the immediate release of these videos."
All four of the officers involved have been placed on administrative leave until further notice.
Photo Credit: Getty Images