An armed high school teacher in Georgia was arrested yesterday after he barricaded himself inside a classroom and fired a shot through a window.
53-year-old Jesse Randall Davidson locked his classroom door at Dalton High School just before students arrived for his class and wouldn’t let anyone in. He kept shouting at them to get away. The school’s principal had a key to the room and tried to unlock the door, but Davidson kept slamming it shut and warned that he had a gun. The school was immediately put on lock-down and moments later, Davidson grabbed a handgun and fired a shot through a window.
Terrified students ran for their lives and police immediately responded. After about 30 minutes of negotiating with authorities, Davidson walked out of the classroom and was taken into custody. He’s charged with aggravated assault, carrying a weapon on school grounds, terroristic threats, reckless conduct, possession of a gun during commission of a crime and disrupting public school. Davidson has taught at the school since 2004 and police do not know when he brought the gun into the building and why. Students at the school were all over social media afterwards slamming President Trump‘s suggestion that teachers should be armed in the wake of the Parkland, Florida school shooting. One student tweeted at the NRA, “My favorite teacher at Dalton High School just blockaded his door and proceeded to shoot. We had to run out the back of the school in the rain. Students were being trampled and screaming. I dare you to tell me arming teachers will make us safe.” (LA Times)
Meanwhile, classes at Dalton High School are cancelled today.
Fasho Thoughts:
- It’s not clear what motivated the popular teacher to do this.
- It supports the argument that arming teachers is not going to keep students safe.
- Students say they saw no indications that Davidson wasn’t mentally stable. He seemed to just snap.
Source: CS / CS
