TN - school shooting knoxville tn

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CNN) -- A staff member at an elementary school in Knoxville, Tennessee, was taken into custody Wednesday minutes after the principal and assistant principal were shot and wounded while in the school, police said.

"We're happy that he's in custody and we're confident that he was the only one involved," Police Chief Sterling Owen told reporters.

Police were called at 12:49 p.m. and "at 1:03 we had him in custody," said Owen, who would not identify the suspect until he is charged.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/10/tennessee.school.shootings/index.html


I didnt see this posted sorry mods if i missed it
this is a little too close to home
 
a staff member! wonder if they had just disciplined/fired him ...
 
I followed this story during the day - from earlier when there was only a report of a shooting at an elem.school -- til they ID'd the perp & the vics.

I was *very* surprised that it wasn't discussed on HLN's Prime News or JVM -- since she's all over cases of violence against women.

some more links

request/dismissal of Order of Protection (Foster threatened brother & family, brother claims he has mental illness)

http://web.knoxnews.com/pdf/2010/feb/021110inskipweb.pdf


http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/feb/10/suspect-custody-after-two-shots-inskip-elementary-/

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/f...s-praised-extraordinary-work/?partner=popular


Prayers for quick healing & recovery..
 
Guys, I don't know if this has already been posted, but keep these fabulous administrators in your thoughts and prayers. In my city, a teacher (who was not going to be re-hired next year and has been found to have a troubled past) shot the principal and assistant principal at an elementary school. I happen to have worked with both of these women and can attest that they are both amazing! Ms. Luna was assistant principal for a short time at an inner-city school in which I worked (also for a short time) and she offered me so much support and encouragement. I hold her in the highest esteem. Ms. Brace was the PE teacher at the same school and those kids revered her like she was a movie star. Both went on to hold their current positions, which put them in harm's way today. Ms. Luna is in critical condition. I hear she was shot 3 times and she is a very small woman (a firecracker, though!) Ms. Brace is doing better and is conscious and in good spirits. Please send all the positive vibes you can muster their way. I can't sleep for worrying about them!

I work in a school with an at-risk population. Every day, our biggest battle is to convince our students to trust us and lead a life like they have never known or seen. A life where people work hard for what they have and NEVER choose guns or violence to solve problems. It absolutely infuriates me that someone went into THEIR OWN "HOUSE" and undid all of that good work and changed lives forever. I am livid. I know the guy was unstable and these things happen, but they are happening way too often in schools. It's devastating.

Thanks, Websleuthers. The more the press uncovers about this guy, the more I believe that the administration was in the right when they decided not to renew his contract. Too bad they had to suffer for making the right decision.

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=112988&catid=2
 
Some more information from a brother of the shooter. Why would this man have a teaching license with his past history of threatened violence? When family does the right thing and sounds the alarm, why don't the courts seem to react? I don't get it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100211...DeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDdGVhY2hlcmFjY3Vz

"An elementary school teacher is accused of shooting and wounding the principal and assistant principal at his school Wednesday about an hour after the children were dismissed because of snow.

Police charged Mark Stephen Foster, 48, of Clinton, with two counts of attempted first-degree murder after the shooting at Inskip Elementary School. The school Web site identifies Foster as a fourth-grade teacher.

A former boss of Foster's said the suspect was taken into custody in the 1990s with weapons near their office after making threatening comments about him to family members.

University of Tennessee Medical Center officials said Principal Elisa Luna was in critical condition and Assistant Principal Amy Brace was in stable condition Wednesday afternoon."

and

"The suspect's brother, Anthony Foster, said his brother lives about a mile away but the two haven't talked in four years because of "family problems." Anthony Foster declined to describe why he and his brother were estranged. But the Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Anthony Foster tried to get a protective order against his brother last year, writing in the petition that Mark Foster had threatened his family.
A court dismissed the petition in May.

"I am very afraid of what he might do to me or my family. He suffers from mental illness and has been treated for it for several year," the petition says. "I have had to call the sheriff's department several times in the past and he seems to be getting worse."

More at the link.
 
Guys, I don't know if this has already been posted, but keep these fabulous administrators in your thoughts and prayers. In my city, a teacher (who was not going to be re-hired next year and has been found to have a troubled past) shot the principal and assistant principal at an elementary school. I happen to have worked with both of these women and can attest that they are both amazing! Ms. Luna was assistant principal for a short time at an inner-city school in which I worked (also for a short time) and she offered me so much support and encouragement. I hold her in the highest esteem. Ms. Brace was the PE teacher at the same school and those kids revered her like she was a movie star. Both went on to hold their current positions, which put them in harm's way today. Ms. Luna is in critical condition. I hear she was shot 3 times and she is a very small woman (a firecracker, though!) Ms. Brace is doing better and is conscious and in good spirits. Please send all the positive vibes you can muster their way. I can't sleep for worrying about them!

I work in a school with an at-risk population. Every day, our biggest battle is to convince our students to trust us and lead a life like they have never known or seen. A life where people work hard for what they have and NEVER choose guns or violence to solve problems. It absolutely infuriates me that someone went into THEIR OWN "HOUSE" and undid all of that good work and changed lives forever. I am livid. I know the guy was unstable and these things happen, but they are happening way too often in schools. It's devastating.

Thanks, Websleuthers. The more the press uncovers about this guy, the more I believe that the administration was in the right when they decided not to renew his contract. Too bad they had to suffer for making the right decision.

http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=112988&catid=2

Thank you for sharing that with us, sariebell.....I have kept the tabs open all day to the articles I was reading about the shooting.

I prayed for Ms. Brace & Ms. Luna - and everyone else who worked there & their families...I also prayed for the kids at that school.....they will be traumatized too.

The whole community will be traumatized....I can't imagine being a parent w/ kids who go to that school...thinking they'll be safe - only to find out there's a madman on campus.

I'm *not* blaming the school....just saying - the worst are among us every day, and we take for granted that an elementary school is safe.

It's always a shock to think, yet again, are we ever really safe? Anywhere?

(((hugs)))
 
Sending up prayers for Ms. Brace and Ms. Luna.
 
Gee whiz, I just realized that the the PE teacher at my school is the cousin of the former employer that the perp threatened in the past! What a weird small world! Mark, my friend at school, said he thought he knew the guy, because he had threatened to kill his cousin and the whole family and had a gun in his car. This was back in the 90's.

I can't seem to find an update on the condition of either lady, but I am hoping Ms. Luna's condition improves from critical today. Fingers crossed.

This is a sad week in Knoxville.
 
Update: I heard that Ms. Luna is far from out of the woods yet. She is still very critical and if she survives, she will be paralyzed from the waist down. One of the 3 bullets severed her spinal column. That crazed lunatic!

More info is coming out about the perp. He was in trouble all over the place, but slipped through the cracks somehow. I guess no red flags came up on his background check. I don't see how...
 
Oh, so please keep these two terrific ladies in your hearts and minds. Especially Ms. Luna - she has to fight to live through this!
 

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