Chilling 911 tapes reveal tense moments leading up to the death of a gunman Monday inside Sullivan Central High School. Those tapes, which last as long as 13 minutes, detail a long stand-off inside the school.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is now investigating the death of Thomas Cowan. He walked into Sullivan Central Monday morning armed with two guns and ammunition. Cowan died after he was shot by Sullivan County deputies and the school resource officer. Those deputies arrived on the scene just minutes after the initial 911 call from the school.
A school employee, only identified as Kim, made one of those calls.
“God almighty,” Kim said as she waited for dispatchers to answer the phone. “We've got a gun at Central High School."
Hiding behind a corner, school janitor Glenn Walden also dialed 911.
"The officer has a gun pulled on him,” Walden told dispatchers. “He has one pulled on her…she's warning him to sit down or she'll fire on him. He's not complying."
It is still unclear what led Cowan to leave his Kingsport home and head to the high school Monday, but the TBI says it was his second trip to the school that day.
"Apparently, the subject had been warned by the (school resource officer) at the school that he needed to leave the premises that morning,” TBI Spokesperson Kristin Helm said. “He then returned and came into the school with a weapon."
Investigators now want to talk more in-depth with that officer to find out exactly what the man said to her.
"That is something that we are looking at as to any of the conversations he was having with the SRO as this incident was about to occur,” Helm said. “We don’t have a motive at this point. Of course it is difficult to establish one when the subject is deceased.”
Regardless of the motive, Cowan’s actions ultimately led to his death.
"Oh God!,” Kim screamed over the phone as she heard six gunshots. “Shots fired. Shots fired. Oh God almighty."
The TBI is now in the midst of reviewing the actions of the officers who fired those shots. Once that review is complete, the TBI will hand over its findings to the district attorney.
The gunshots made secretary Diane Sells cry as she talked with dispatchers from the safety of a locked office.
“Oh my God,” Sells said crying uncontrollably.
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