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Georgia Teacher Allegedly Fires Gunshot In Classroom, Igniting Debate On Arming Teachers
Jesse Randall Davidson is a social studies teacher at Dalton High School in Georgia. After allegedly shooting a gun in his classroom, he's fueling more discussions about arming teachers.
A social studies high school teacher from Dalton, Georgia has been arrested after he allegedly firing at least one shot inside a classroom on Wednesday.
Jesse Randall Davidson, 53, was arrested after the shot was fired, according to the Dalton Police Department. The Social studies teacher also serves as play-by-play voice of the school’s football team, according to updates the Dalton Police Department was giving the community on its Facebook Page.
Police said that the teacher allegedly barricaded himself in a classroom on Wednesday. No children were injured. The school was evacuated and subsequently locked down. Dalton High School confirmed that no children were in the classroom when the gun went off, according to Fox News. The gun was a snub-nosed .38 revolver and the single gunshot reportedly went through a classroom window, according to WRCBTV. There was one injury — a student sprained an ankle after running during the evacuation, Fox News reported.
The Dalton Police Department tweeted out that Davidson was charged with aggravated assault, carrying a weapon on school grounds, terroristic threats, reckless conduct, possession of a gun during the commission of a crime, and disrupting public school. It’s unclear if he has a lawyer at this time.
The distressing incident was certainly timely. Almost immediately people weighed in on social media, citing President Donald Trump’s new goal of arming school teachers to combat school shootings.
Just this week, State Sen. Joey Hensley said he is sponsoring a bill that would allow school districts in Tennessee the option of having armed teachers if they wanted them.
“My bill would let school districts to consider the possibility,” Hensley told the Columbia Daily Herald. “It would allow teachers, with the right amount of training, to have a gun to protect themselves and their students.[...] How many teachers want a gun? I don’t know. But if they’re trained, I want them to have the right. I am especially worried about some of our rural schools, where law enforcement is far away. I want to keep our schools safe.”
Florida, the state where the recent shootings at Parkland erupted, is also moving towards arming teachers. Florida's House and Senate have approved bills that would train teachers to carry guns this very week. The bills would devote $67 million to trained teachers and other faculty members with firearms, according to The Huffington Post.
[Photo: Whitfield County Jail]
