Jacksboro, Tenn. – A teenager shot and killed an assistant principal and seriously wounded two other administrators at a high school Tuesday afternoon, officials said. The student was arrested.
“I don’t know what he was thinking or what his motives were,” Sheriff Ron McClellan said.
Campbell County High School assistant principal Ken Bruce was shot in the chest and died at a hospital a short time later, officials said.
The suspect was grazed in the hand by a bullet fired from his .22-caliber handgun during a scuffle with the administrators and a teacher who helped wrest the gun away, the sheriff said.
No other students were hurt.
Principal Gary Seale was shot in the lower abdomen, and assistant principal Jim Pierce was shot in the chest. Seale was in serious condition and Pierce in critical condition at University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, spokeswoman Lisa McNeal said.
School will be closed the rest of the week, and counselors will be available to help students and teachers Monday, schools director Judy Blevins said.
The suspect was being held in a juvenile detention facility in nearby Scott County.
The 1,400-student school, about 30 miles northwest of Knoxville, was locked down after the shooting. Students said Seale was able to get to the school intercom and order the lockdown after being shot.
Both Seale and Pierce have been educators for more than 30 years, he said.
Bruce “had been a lieutenant colonel in the Army and came back to teach about eight years ago,” said Clifford Kohlmeyer, a former school administrator. “We shared an office for two years. He was very dedicated to the students.”
All three men have children, he said.
