Knoxville, TN – The mother who called the police to Austin-East High School on April 12 after 17-year-old Anthony Thompson beat up her daughter on campus again said she regretted her decision, blamed police, and called for “justice” for Thompson in the wake of his death.
Thompson was fatally shot by Knoxville police and a school resource officer was shot when police tried to take him into custody in a school bathroom.
Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen held a press conference on April 22 and walked the media through the bodycam videos of all four officers who were present when Thompson was shot.
Allen spent more than two hours walking reporters through the bodycam videos and most of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s (TBI) report on the shooting.
“This is a self-defense case,” she told reporters. “At the end of the day, we have found the shooting by Officer Clabough was justified.”
The mother whose 911 call brought officers to Austin-East High School has said that she regretted having called police on Thompson and blamed the school for letting the situation between her daughter and her boyfriend get so out of hand.
Regina Perkins gave an interview to the Knoxville News Sentinel in which she said that her daughter, Alexus Page, called her from the office at school and got permission to come home that day after she was attacked by Thompson, her former boyfriend of about nine months.
Perkins said that her daughter had scratches on her face and was missing chunks of hair, so she called the police and reported the incident.
The mother said that Thompson had been subjecting her daughter to mental abuse and domestic violence over a period of time and that’s why she sent police to the school the day he was shot.
She said she had tried to call Thompson’s mother first but she didn’t answer, and she also texted Thompson and warned him she was sending the police to the school.
Allen revealed during the press conference that Page’s mother had exchanged vitriolic text messages with Thompson for more than an hour leading up to the shooting.
Perkins has since joined the cadre of outraged parents who have accused the police of withholding information in the case, the Knoxville News Sentinel reported.
“As far as the events go, you know, I do apologize to the family,” Perkins said in an interview in front of the high school. “There was an altercation and I did make a police report, they did come down here to make an arrest for domestic assault on my daughter.”
“She wasn’t even willing to cooperate but as a mother, I was just tired. I wanted them to take a break but I never meant for anything to happen to him,” she insisted to the Knoxville News Sentinel.
“I never meant for any of this to happen,” Perkins said. “I’m sorry. And hopefully we get justice in this case for Anthony. He was definitely, definitely a good kid.”
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