Armed teacher arrested after shooting at Georgia high school

Armed teacher arrested after shooting at Georgia high school

POSTED 11:49 AM, FEBRUARY 28, 2018, BY WGNO WEB DESK, UPDATED AT 11:53AM, FEBRUARY 28, 2018


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DALTON, GA. – An armed teacher has been arrested after shots were fired at a high school in a small town in northern Georgia.

The Dalton Police Department reported that “shot or shots” had been fired at Dalton High School just after 11:15 a.m. on the department’s official Twitter account.

Minutes later, DPD added that the armed suspect was barricaded inside a classroom at the school and urged parents not to come to the school.

Students were transported to the Northeast Georgia Trade Center for pickup, according to the DPD.

At 11:23 a.m., the department tweeted an update that read “The teacher is in custody.”

No students were harmed, and no children were in danger during the incident, according to the DPD.

Stay tuned to WGNO for more information on this developing story.

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...gp_normal.jpegDalton Police@DaltonPD


UPDATE: The teacher is in custody.
9:23 AM - Feb 28, 2018

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http://wgno.com/2018/02/28/armed-tea...a-high-school/

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SO, some of the teachers are a crazy as some of the students?

Trump suggests arming teachers as a solution to increase school safety

I haven't heard any details on the "why" of this shooting yet. However, I suspect it's a liberal pushing an agenda (teachers shouldn't have firearms in school). We'll see.

3 hours ago

Georgia teacher in custody after allegedly opening fire in classroom, police say

By Kathleen Joyce, Elizabeth Zwirz | Fox News


Teacher allegedly fires gun in classroom, taken into custody

Raw video: Police spokesperson Bruce Frazier updates media on incident at Dalton High School in Georgia where a teacher allegedly barricaded himself in a classroom before opening fire.

A teacher has been taken into custody after allegedly firing at least one shot inside a Georgia high school classroom Wednesday, police said.

The Dalton Police Department identifed the teacher as Jesse Randall Davidson, 53, a social studies teacher who also does play-by-play announcements during the school's football games. He has been employed with the school since 2004.

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...gp_normal.jpegDalton Police@DaltonPD


The teacher involved in this morning’s incident is Jesse Randall Davidson, 53, social studies teacher. Also serves as play by play voice of the Dalton football team.
11:29 AM - Feb 28, 2018

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Davidson was 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, police said in a tweet.

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...gp_normal.jpegDalton Police@DaltonPD


Jesse Randal Davidson has been charged with aggravated assault, carrying weapon on school grounds, terroristic threats, reckless conduct, possession of gun during commission of a crime, and disrupting public school.
2:15 PM - Feb 28, 2018

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The department earlier tweeted a person, believed to be a teacher, was barricaded inside a classroom. The person allegedly would not allow students into the room, police said.

Dalton High School was placed on lockdown and police confirmed no children were in any danger and there weren't any students inside the classroom at the time of the incident, they said. The school and the area surrounding it were evacuated.

http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnew....jpg?ve=1&tl=1
Police said Jesse Randall Davidson, 53, was the teacher involved in Wednesday's incident. (Dalton Public Schools)


During an afternoon news conference, Dalton High School Principal Steve Bartoo said he was notified of the situation around 11:40 a.m. After arriving to the area of the building, he said students were being shuffled into another classroom and he was told that Davidson wasn't letting anyone in.

Bartoo said he tried to go inside the classroom but Davidson slammed the door in his face and told him to "go away."

http://a57.foxnews.com/images.foxnew....jpg?ve=1&tl=1
One student sustained an ankle injury Wednesday following an incident at Dalton High School. (AP)


The school resource officer, who was off-campus at a nearby middle school, was called, the principal said, and other students were moved from a nearby classroom.

After that, Bartoo said he tried again to enter the classroom, this time putting his key in the door and announcing himself, only to have it slammed on him again. He said Davidson told him not to come in and said "I have a gun."

The school was immediately placed under threat lockdown mode and shortly after, Bartoo said he heard a gunshot. He added that it seemed like only minutes before officers arrived to the school. Students were moved and part of the hallway was evacuated before police ultimately told them to clear out the entire school, the principal said.

https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_t...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...NXp_normal.jpgwesley@wesleycaceres5


We are being escorted out !!! #Daltonhighschool i will keep y’all updated !! Stay tuned !
9:59 AM - Feb 28, 2018 · Dalton, GA

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Police did not say what type of firearm was used but confirmed it was a handgun. The gun has been recovered.

One student was injured after sustaining an ankle injury while running inside the school during the building evacuation, the Dalton Police Department tweeted. No faculty or staff were reported injured in the incident.

Bartloo said he has known Davidson since he was employed by the district and described him as an "excellent teacher" who was "well thought of." When asked if this event was a surprise, the principal said, "absolutely."

"Certainly shocking ... probably shock any school principal if one of their staff members pulled out a gun in a classroom and fired it," Bartloo said.

Asst. Chief Cliff Cason of the Dalton Police Department said authorities are currently aware of one shot going off and that it was fired through the classroom window and went outside the building.

Davidson was taken into custody and brought to Whitfield County Jail, Cason said.

https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_t...jpg&name=small

https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...KDv_normal.jpg11Alive News

✔@11AliveNews


Another video from Dalton High student @wesleycaceres5 who is on the bus headed to the parent meet-up spot.
10:54 AM - Feb 28, 2018 · Atlanta, GA

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He added that the teacher would face "appropriate charges because this is a very egregious act that took place at the school."

Cason commended the work of the school resource officer, who he said convinced Davidson to surrender to authorities, as well as the school for their response to the situation. He called their execution of the lockdown "flawless."

"Our job would not have nearly been as easy to execute today if it weren't for how well they did in doing their lockdown drill," Cason said.

The school has about 2,000 students, according to their website.
Dalton is about 90 miles north of Atlanta.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2018/02/28...gh-school.html

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MW

I haven't heard any details on the "why" of this shooting yet. However, I suspect it's a liberal pushing an agenda (teachers shouldn't have firearms in school). We'll see.

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Crossed my mind as well.

He can never teach again, anywhere, ever.
And he will have to do jail or prison time or be put in a mental hospital.
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"Davidson was 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, police said in a tweet."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

He can never teach again, anywhere, ever.
And he will have to do jail or prison time or be put in a mental hospital.
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"Davidson was 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, police said in a tweet."

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Good.

Sheriff: Guns taken from Georgia teacher after car set afire

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/_g...613.png.cf.jpg
JEFF MARTIN
,Associated Press•March 2, 2018

ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia teacher accused of firing a handgun in his classroom had three rifles taken away after setting the family car ablaze at his home two years ago, according to a sheriff's report obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

But authorities responsible for protecting his workplace -- Dalton High School -- say they only learned about this disturbing episode this week.

Related SearchesGeorgia Teacher With GunGeorgia Teacher Fired Gun BarricadedTeacher Shooting GeorgiaGeorgia Teacher Arrested

Deputies in Dade County, where social studies teacher Jesse Randal Davidson lives, took him to a hospital for a mental evaluation and seized the rifles for safe-keeping after he torched the Mitsubishi Outlander on Aug. 13, 2016.

This sheriff's report and two others from Dalton Police in Whitfield County show Davidson has been hospitalized at least three times in recent years as people worried about his state of mind.

Davidson didn't hit anyone when he allegedly fired a handgun out his classroom window at Dalton High School on Wednesday, but it caused chaos and immediate calls to abandon the idea of arming teachers as a solution to school shootings. President Donald Trump and other Republicans have endorsed arming teachers following the killings of 17 people at a Florida high school two weeks ago.

Davidson faces six charges including aggravated assault; terroristic threats and acts; and having a weapon on school property. His lawyer hasn't returned phone and email messages from the AP.

The additional details about Davidson's past run-ins with law enforcement emerged as the school reopened Friday.

A deputy saw heavy smoke and flames pouring from the Mitsubishi as he pulled up to Davidson's home in the small community of Rising Fawn, Georgia, the sheriff's report said. The deputy told Davidson's wife Lisa and their daughter Megan to seek safety in his patrol car.

Davidson's adult son, Johnny, told the deputy that his father "was not acting like himself and was sitting down with a rifle in the back yard watching the vehicle on fire."

Johnny Davidson was eventually able to talk his father into giving up the gun, described in the report as a Russia 7.62 rifle. No injuries were reported. Two other weapons — described as an Ithaca .22-caliber rifle and a Savage 7 mag rifle — also were seized.

In March 2016, Davidson walked into the lobby of the Dalton police headquarters and told a wild story including his suspicions that someone had been murdered, police said. Detectives couldn't verify that any of it was true, and he was taken to the hospital since he'd expressed thoughts of hurting himself, police wrote in their report on that episode.

In January 2017, school employees and a police officer began searching Dalton High after Davidson went missing. He was finally found sitting on the curb along a street a few blocks from the campus, being propped up by two school staff members, police said.

Dalton police informed school officials after they investigated the rambling story at the police station, but spokesman Bruce Frazier said police investigators only became aware of the burning car situation this week.

The family has faced financial hardship in recent years, federal court records show.

Davidson's wife told the sheriff's deputy who arrived to find the Mitsubishi engulfed in flames that the couple had argued that morning about money, a few hours before the car was burned. They'd filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in late 2015. As part of that case, the Dalton teacher listed six rifles and one shotgun on a list of assets he owned.

School officials say they can't talk about mental health issues of specific staff members. But Dalton High Principal Steve Bartoo told reporters that "as far as I know he was fit to be at work."

"We don't allow anyone in a classroom unless they are capable of doing their job and fit for their position," school system spokeswoman Pat Holloway said.

But school officials might not have been aware that his guns had been taken the day his family car was burned.

"I very seriously doubt that they knew about that incident," Dade County Sheriff's Sgt. Chad Payne said Friday.

"It resulted in him being transported for a mental evaluation," Payne said. "Once he's in that ambulance and on the way to the hospital, his medical care becomes private so I doubt that they would know anything about it."

https://www.yahoo.com/news/teacher-h...034004363.html