Charges In Tenn. School Shooting

A 15-year-old boy charged with a school shooting in which an assistant principal died and two other school officials were wounded should be tried as an adult, a prosecutor said Wednesday.

District Attorney Paul Phillips said a juvenile court judge from outside Campbell County, where the shooting occurred Tuesday, will be asked to rule on whether the case against Ken Bartley Jr. should be transferred to circuit court.

"It is appropriate that he be tried as an adult and subject to adult penalties," Phillips said.

Investigators were interviewing hundreds of witnesses and hoped to talk to the two wounded men during the afternoon, he said.

Phillips also said that Bartley is being charged with "a number of delinquent acts," including first-degree murder.

Principal Gary Seale was shot in the abdomen while trying to wrestle the gun from the student and Assistant Principal Jim Pierce was hit in the chest, authorities said. Both were in serious condition in intensive care at University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, spokeswoman Lisa McNeal said.

Authorities in Jacksboro, Tenn., say that the student walked into the school cafeteria around 2 p.m., hiding a .22-calibre handgun under a napkin, then allegedly opened fire. The administrators and a teacher helped wrestle the gun away from the 15-year-old student, deputies said. Assistant Principal Ken Bruce was shot in the chest and died at a LaFollette hospital, authorities said.

"This situation could have gotten much worse," said Mark Wells, vice chairman of the Campbell County Board of Education. "It did not because our staff followed the (emergency) plan in place."

No students were hurt in the shooting at Campbell County Comprehensive High School.

The administrators and a teacher helped disarm the student, deputies said. Assistant Principal Ken Bruce was shot in the chest and died at a LaFollette hospital, authorities said.

Despite his injury, Seale managed to get to the intercom and order a lockdown, helping to end the rampage, authorities said.

His clothes stained with blood, the accused student was eventually taken into custody, CBS News correspondent Jim Acosta reports for The Early Show. But other Campbell students were left to speculate why a 15-year-old would unleash so much destruction.

"It's kind of shocking cause it's someone you know — he's always been the kid that wanted attention," a student

Phillips said Bartley acted alone and got the .22-caliber handgun used in the shooting from his home.

"No one else is criminally responsible," the prosecutor said.

The suspect was taken to a juvenile detention facility, Sheriff Ron McClellan said. Authorities said he was grazed on the hand by a bullet from his handgun while he was being subdued. The boy's family declined to comment.

"He has been in trouble before, but I just wouldn't expect something like this out of him," said classmate Courtney Ward, 17. "He is a big jokester. He is rowdy. But I just couldn't see him doing this."

"I don't know what he was thinking or what his motives were," McClellan said. "Investigators are piecing together ... what exactly transpired."

The 1,400-student school about 35 miles northwest of Knoxville was closed for the rest of the week, officials said.

Parents rushed to the school to pick up their children, causing a massive traffic jam when police closed the campus.

"It is scary, it is terrifying," said Darren Davidson, waiting for his son, Justin.

Davidson's wife, Kizzie, added: "I thought I would have a heart attack before I got here."

Seale and Pierce have been educators more than 30 years, said former assistant principal Clifford Kohlmeyer. Bruce had been a lieutenant colonel in the Army and came back to teaching about eight years ago, Kohlmeyer said.

Tuesday's shooting marked the second time this year that a school employee was fatally shot.

Stewart County school bus driver Joyce Gregory, 47, was killed as she stopped to pick up a student on her route on March 1. Jason Clinard, 15, is charged with her slaying and will be tried as an adult.

In August, a boy was accidentally shot in the leg in a middle school restroom in Jefferson County. The investigation led to charges against two students accused in a plot to kill a teacher at Maury Middle School.

On the Campbell County high school's Web site, Seale welcomed incoming students, saying the staff would do its best "to make these four years as safe and enjoyable as possible."

"The next four years will be the best times of your life," he said. "Many wonderful memories will be made."