Photo Courtesy of The Knoxville News Sentinel
Anthony J. Thompson Jr. and Alexus Page were two high school students in an interracial relationship, but their alleged physical altercations eventually took a toll on the two. On April 12, Perkins’ mother, Regina Perkins, called the police on her daughter’s Black boyfriend after she had admitted that the two were involved in a fight. But when Knoxville police arrived at the school, four officers confronted the 17-year-old student and ended up fatally shooting the minor.
Perkins now regrets getting the police involved and wonders why officers took deadly measures.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Perkins admitted that she realized something terrible had occurred when she saw a helicopter flying over the school and received news of a lockdown. Perkins also claims that she clearly stated that she didn’t
believe Thompson to be armed.“Anthony was aware that I had called the police and made a report,” she explained, recalling that Officer Jonathon Clabough had visited her home.
Before the cop left, he questioned the woman about the possibility of Thompson having a firearm.
“When Officer Clabough left my house at about 2:36 p.m., he said he would be going to Austin East to make an arrest,” Perkins said, “but he was given no impression that Anthony had a gun on him, so I don’t know what happened after he left my house.”
“They had fun together. There were good times. My daughter honestly wanted to help him deal with everything he was going through, but I knew that things were becoming unhealthy. Hence, I did what I could as a parent to shield her from it,” she told The Knoxville News Sentinel about her daughter’s relationship.
On April 12, Perkins’ daughter
called her mom to ask if she could leave Austin-East Magnet School early. Once home, Perkins discovered that her daughter and Thompson were involved in a “scuffle,” she decided to file a police report. The girl allegedly had bruises on her face and was missing hair. The woman allegedly texted Thompson and informed him that a Knoxville officer would be coming to the school.Perkins revealed that she was heartbroken over Thompson’s untimely death while also acknowledging the young couple’s rocky and aggressive fighting continuing.
“He was a good kid. He had dreams and goals, but he had some struggles. They both have gone through a lot of things, and as a parent, I felt it was necessary to protect her after I saw things were heading in the wrong direction the last few months.”
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The Knoxville News Sentinel reported that Perkins admitted that she realized something terrible had occurred when she saw a helicopter flying over the school and received news of a lockdown. Perkins also claims that she clearly stated that she didn’t
believe Thompson to be armed.However, Knoxville police allegedly responded to a possible gunman before fatally shooting the teenager.
“I am so sorry, and I never meant for anything to happen to him,” Perkins regretted. “We are mourning, my daughter is grieving the loss of her first love, and we also want answers and justice in this case.”
Little details are currently known about why police decided to open fire on Thompson, and all the apologies in the world won’t bring the teenager back.