A Tennessee mother says she wishes she had never called the police on her daughter’s Black boyfriend after the conflict ended with an officer fatally shooting him inside a Knoxville high school bathroom.
Anthony J. Thompson Jr., a 17-year-old student at Austin-East Magnet High School, was fatally shot by a Knoxville police officer on Monday, April 12, after his girlfriend’s mother called 911.
“Once again, when a Black person is killed, in this case a Black child, the police quickly shape a narrative to justify the death,” said civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing the family.
Regina Perkins made the call to police after her daughter Alexus Page, who had been dating Thompson for nine months, came home early from school with marks on her face and some hair missing. Page, a junior at the school, said she and Thompson had engaged in a physical fight following an argument.
Page had called her mother from the assistant principal’s office and was given permission to sign out and leave early.
‘We Don’t Want to Hurt You, Brother’
According to Perkins, she reached out to Thompson’s mother before contacting authorities, but was unable to get in touch with her.
“Alexus told me that she was grabbed and that her hair was pulled, and that is really what led me to feel that I needed to do more,” Perkins told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
An officer came to the Perkins’ home to take a statement, and Perkins allegedly informed Thompson via text message that an officer would be coming to the school.
Perkins and Page said they told police Thompson probably wasn’t armed, but authorities said they were acting on a report that the student was armed when they entered the school. Perkins realized the school was on lockdown after seeing a helicopter above the building.
A struggle occurred between Thompson and multiple officers in the school bathroom and the teen was fatally shot.
“I am so sorry, and I never meant for anything to happen to him,” Perkins said. “We are mourning, my daughter is grieving the loss of her first love and we also want answers and justice in this case.”
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