Georgia high school teacher fires gun in class, injuring nobody but feeding gun debate

Dalton High School on lockdown — (Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube/AP)

Dalton High School in Dalton, Georgia, was put on lockdown and evacuated Wednesday after a popular social studies teacher, Jesse Randal Davidson, fired a handgun through an outside window. Nobody was injured from the gunshot, but one student hurt her ankle in the rush to get out of the school. Davidson, 53, fired the gun at about 11:30 a.m., during his planning period, after students and then Principal Steve Bartoo were unable to get into the classroom, Bartoo said. When he returned with a key, Bartoo said, Davidson "slammed the door before I could open it and he said, 'Don't come in here, I have a gun.'"

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Davidson was taken into police custody after a standoff with police that lasted 30 to 45 minutes, police spokesman Bruce Frazier said, and the motive is still unclear. "I don't know whether he was just firing the gun off to let people know to back off or what," Frazier said. But it did not take long for Dalton High students to tie their fright to the national debate on gun violence and arming teachers, as President Trump and the NRA have suggested.

Nathangel Lopez, who posted that photo, later said about arming teachers: "At first, I was thinking that that might have been a good idea. I am now totally against it."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.