Officials: Armed man fatally shot by deputies at East Tenn. high school; no students injured

Armed man fatally shot at East Tenn. high school

BLOUNTVILLE, Tenn. — Authorities say an armed man was fatally shot by deputies at an East Tennessee high school after he went inside and pointed a gun at the principal’s head,

Sullivan County Sheriff Wayne Anderson said at a Monday afternoon news conference there’s “no doubt” that 62-year-old Thomas Richard Cowan of Kingsport intended to kill somebody at Sullivan Central High School.

Anderson said Cowan’s motive has not been determined.

No students or teachers were hurt and school was dismissed at 10:30 a.m. EDT Monday.

Anderson said Cowan entered the school with a .380-caliber semiautomatic and a .25-caliber handgun in his back pocket.

Blountville is near the Virginia line, about 250 miles east of Nashville.

Information from: WJHL-TV, www.wjhl.com/