Two Principals Shot at Tennessee School

Last updated at 8:15 p.m. EST

An elementary school teacher is accused of shooting and wounding the principal and assistant principal at his school Wednesday about an hour after the children were dismissed because of snow.

Police charged Mark Stephen Foster, 48, of Clinton, with two counts of attempted first-degree murder after the shooting at Inskip Elementary School. The school Web site identifies Foster as a fourth-grade teacher.

University of Tennessee Medical Center officials said Principal Elisa Luna was in critical condition and Assistant Principal Amy Brace was in stable condition Wednesday afternoon.

"We're very saddened by this tragedy," Knox County Schools Superintendent James McIntyre Jr. said. "Thankfully there were no students involved."

The profile for Foster includes a picture and description that says, "I love teaching 4th grade. Every child is a winner."

Tennessee Department of Education spokeswoman Rachel Woods said Foster received an apprentice teacher license for grades K-6 in the summer of 2007. An apprentice license is issued when someone first starts teaching, before they have tenure, she said.

Foster was arrested a short distance from the school after his car was stopped at a highway construction roadblock, Police Chief Sterling Owen IV said. He surrendered without incident and police said they recovered a revolver. It wasn't immediately known if he had an attorney.

Authorities weren't offering a motive. "We're confident he was the only one involved," Owen said.

The administrators had been praised for their work at the elementary school, where Luna had been the principal since 2004 and Brace had been assistant principal since July 2008.

"These are two outstanding educators," McIntyre said.

Sen. Jamie Woodson, R-Knoxville, said the Legislature honored the principal in 2007 for her work leading the school off the state's list of schools not meeting the goals of No Child Left Behind program. The school of more than 300 students in grades kindergarten through 5 has met annual goals every year since 2004.

"It's obviously a very disturbing situation," Woodson said.

Luna is the daughter of former state Sen. Jerry Cooper, Senate Democratic Leader Jim Kyle said. Cooper couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

DeBusk said one of the victims was in surgery, but couldn't say which principal.

Police said the shooting occurred in the administrative offices of the school shortly before 1 p.m. Although the students had been dismissed, there were several staff members in the building at the time of the shooting, and they were being interviewed by police.

The Inskip community is a working-class neighborhood dotted with one-story ranch homes in northern Knoxville.