Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The investigation into a reported school threat results in a 13-year-old boy being charged for threat of mass violence.
Wednesday night, the Knoxville Police Department was notified that this 13 year-old had allegedly threatened to bring a gun to Ridgedale School and shoot someone.
KPD officers and detectives took him into custody at his home late in the evening Wednesday.
KPD Chief Paul Noel says they will have zero tolerance for those who make threats of violence towards our schools.
“We will have zero tolerance for those who make threats of violence towards our schools,” Chief Paul Noel said. “I am grateful for the quick intervention of our officers and law enforcement partners after being notified of this threat.”
The student was taken into custody, police said. He’s been charged with making a threat of mass violence. (Courtesy: KPD)
Gatlinburg, TN (WOKI) UPDATE: 8/29: Efforts continue Thursday to suppress a fire that broke out earlier this week in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Park officials say the Flint Gap Fire has now grown to about 23 acres and is burning primarily in undergrowth in steep terrain.
The National Guard is helping fight the blaze and firefighters Thursday called-in additional suppression modules as well.
Some campsites, trails and a road remain closed; officials say no structures are threatened.
See below for the current list of area closures.
UPDATE 8/28: Several campsites, trails, and a road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park remain closed as a small fire which broke out Tuesday has now grown in size.
Park officials say the fire which was about two acres large, has since grown to about 10 acres. Crews have been ordered to fight the blaze from both the air and the ground. Officials add that the Tennessee National Guard is helping fight the fire.
Officials say no structures are threatened at this time, and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
See below for the current list of area closures.
ORIGINAL STORY: A small fire in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has prompted the closure of some campsites, trails and a road.
Park officials say the fire is about two acres large and crews have been ordered to fight it from both the air and the ground.
So far, the following areas have closed:
Backcountry campsites 14, 15 and 16
Parson Branch Road
Rabbit Creek Trail from Abrams Creek to Cades Cove
Hannah Mountain Trail from Parson Branch Road to Little Bottom Trail
Officials say no structures are threatened at this time.
Fire in Great Smoky Mountains prompts closures (Courtesy: GSMNP)
Austin-East High School and Vine Middle School placed on medium lockdown according to representatives with Knox County Schools.
The schools were placed on lockdown because of an operation in the area by the Knox County Sheriff’s Office yesterday (Wednesday). The lockdowns were lifted, but students were dismissed late.
Two children are rescued after being kidnapped by their non-custodial father.
Officials with the Dandridge Police Department say they were notified about a stolen vehicle out of Knoxville yesterday (Wednesday) morning. The suspect, identified as Justin Odum, kidnapped his two children, ages 9 and 6, who he did not have custody of and a sergeant reportedly saw the car on Highway 92 and tried to stop it and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office joined the chase and stopped the vehicle, Odum into custody. He was booked and now faces multiple charges out of Jefferson and Knox counties.
Knoxville Police are investigating the drowning death of a 71-year-old woman at Inskip Pool.
An officer was in the area August 22nd when he heard voices coming from inside the pool area and found lifeguards giving a woman CPR. The officer reportedly helped until crews with the Knoxville Fire Department and AMR arrived.
The woman, who has not been identified, was taken to the hospital where she died that night.
Officials says the pool was being rented by the Sertoma Center at the time.
The City of Knoxville also provided a statement on what happened:
The City and its Parks and Recreation aquatics team are incredibly saddened by the death of a community member last week following an Aug. 22 private event at Inskip Pool. The City and staff have offered condolences to the woman’s family and to the organization that had rented the pool.
Out of respect for the family’s privacy, the City is not releasing the name of the woman who died or the name of the group that had rented the pool for its private event.
According to witnesses, City lifeguards recognized the woman was in the water and in distress and immediately entered the pool to perform a rescue. They pulled the woman from the water and performed life-saving measures, and the woman was breathing as the ambulance arrived at the scene. Tragically, the woman died later at the hospital. City of Knoxville
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) A Lenoir City man has been indicted for first-degree murder in the death of a woman in January in Knoxville.
Knoxville Police Department officials say the indictment comes after KPD officers took 26-year-old Reginald Depriest into custody on January 5; they say Depriest had turned himself in.
According to KPD, Depriest killed 39-year-old Andrea Moore at a Western Heights apartment in the 1400 block of W. Oldham Avenue.
The investigation was prompted by a call saying there was a body inside the apartment. At the time, police called the death “suspicious in nature.”
Update: Detectives have recovered Raileigh Capps, the missing twelve-year-old. She is being taken to a local hospital for a check-up. The investigation remains open, and charges will be forthcoming later.
Knoxville, TN (WOKI) The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has issued an Endangered Child Alert for a missing Knox County girl.
TBI says 12 year-old Raileigh Capps was last seen Tuesday evening in the area of Crippen Corner Lane in Knoxville.
Capps is white with light brown hair and brown eyes and was last seen wearing grey Mickey Mouse sweat pants, a white T-Shirt and a brown fuzzy jacket. She also has a white rose tattoo on her left forearm and nose and navel piercings.
Authorities say she has no runaway history.
Those with information on the whereabouts of Raileigh Marie Capps are being asked to please call the Knox County Sheriff’s Office at 865-215-2243, 911 or 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Covenant Health Park is the name of Knoxville’s new $114-million multi-use stadium.
Boyd Sports, LLC, and Covenant Health have reached an agreement for the naming rights to the new stadium which will feature 7,500 seats, create an estimated 400 jobs, and be the home of Smokies baseball, One Knoxville Soccer Club and many other events.
Branding for the stadium is expected to revealed today (Wednesday).
The Smokies will play their inaugural game in the stadium against the Chattanooga Lookouts next year on April 15th.
The Knox County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help to find a missing 12 year-old girl.
Raileigh Capps is white with light brown hair and brown eyes. She has no runaway history and has a white rose tattoo on her left forearm and nose and navel piercings.
She was last seen wearing grey Mickey Mouse sweat pants, a white T-Shirt and a brown fuzzy jacket.
We have her photo on our website, newstalk 987.com. If you have any information please contact KCSO at 865-215-2243.
