Alcoa, TN (WOKI) An undercover operation in Alcoa results in the arrest of seven men for sex trafficking.

Officials with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation say the two-day operation focused on hunting down traffickers who prey on victims on websites known to be linked to prostitution or commercial sex cases with minors.

All seven men are accused of seeking sex from minors. They were arrested on charges of trafficking for a commercial sex act and have been booked into the Blount County Jail.

• Rene Gonzalez, 44, of Sevierville
• Hardkkumar Patel, 31, of Knoxville
• Jorge Pickens, 21, of Knoxville
• Bradford Hartman, 34, of Maryville
• Kenneth Price, 60, of Rogersville
• Jeremiah Williams, 23, of Knoxville
• Chethan Ranganatha, 40, of Knoxville

The investigation also helped identify two women victims of human trafficking, and they were offered housing and counseling through Grow Free Tennessee, a program of the Community Coalition Against Human Trafficking.

Roane County, TN (WOKI) The National Weather Service Friday confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down in Roane County Thursday night, August 3. That finding coming after NWS meteorologists surveyed damage in the community of Oral, along Highway 70.

“We have found max winds of 95 miles an hour,” said NWS Meteorologist Jeremy Buckles. “The damage was consistent with an EF1 tornado that was about 200 yards wide, at its widest, and had about a half mile path length.”

Buckles said surveys found uprooted trees, damaged outbuildings, and damage to roofs on homes with no reported injuries. He added that an August tornado in Tennessee is a very uncommon event with only five others recorded before in the state.

Thursday’s tornado is the sixth tornado on the list, following the last August tornado that happened in Bradley County in 2004.

Hamblen County, TN (WOKI) A Hamblen County student has been charged after allegedly threatening to “shoot up the school” on the first full-day of classes.

The Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office says a School Resource Officer was told that a student made the threats to acquaintances on Tuesday, August 2.

The investigator on the case said they went into action immediately, interviewing the student who said the threat had been made but “it was a joke.”

That student has been charged with Threatening Mass Violence at a School.

“The Hamblen County Sheriff’s Office and the Hamblen County Board of Education are adamant that all threats will be taken seriously,” Sheriff Chad Mullins stressed. “Parents need to let their students know threats are not jokes and anyone making any type of threat towards a school or another individual will be charged accordingly. We stand firm on this.”

A media release from the sheriff’s office did not state at which of the district’s 18 schools the threat was targeted.