Central was formerly located at what is now Gresham Middle School in the heart of Fountain City. In the 1960s, it was the largest unincorporated community in Tennessee. Its name is something of a misnomer, since it has never been located near the center of Knoxville, even when Fountain City was annexed into Knoxville in the early 1960s. The northernmost high school in Knoxville before the annexation of Fountain City was Fulton, and in the county, Powell, Karns, and Halls high schools were farther north.
2008 shooting
On August 21, 2008, 15-year-old student Jamar Siler entered the school cafeteria and approached student Ryan McDonald sitting at a lunch table. Siler fatally shot McDonald, and was arrested by authorities a short time later. The two had been in previous altercations, the details of which were not released to the general public.
Siler was initially tried as a juvenile until Tim Irwin, Juvenile Court judge, ordered that he be tried as an adult.[2] In November 2011, at age 18, Siler pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 30-year sentence.[2][3]
Siler is currently incarcerated in the Trousdale Turner Correctional Center.[4]
Robert Lee Suffridge,(March 17, 1916 – March 3, 1974) was an American football player in the National Football League for the Philadelphia Eagles. He played college football at the University of Tennessee, where he was later inducted into the school's hall of fame and the College Football Hall of Fame. Suffridge also served in the United States Navy during World War II.
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