Teacher fi res shot in class, but why?

SCHOOL SAFETY

ATLANTA — A social studies teacher barricaded himself inside a classroom at a Georgia high school Wednesday and fired a handgun in what may have been a warning shot, authorities said.

No students were in the classroom at the time, and the only injury reported was a student who hurt her ankle running when Dalton High School was evacuated.

The teacher, 53-year-old Jesse Randal Davidson, was taken into custody without incident after a 30- to 45-minute standoff with officers, Dalton police spokesman Bruce Frazier said. Davidson has been a teacher since 2004, police said in a tweet .

Police didn’t immediately say why Davidson fired the gun, but they noted that he aimed away from anyone into an exterior window.

The shooting happened about 11:30 a.m. during Davidson’s planning period. Students tried to get into his classroom, but he wouldn’t let them in. The students notified the principal, who tried to open the door with a key. That’s when Davidson fired the gun, authorities said, and the school was immediately placed on lockdown.

Student Emma Jacobs texted her mother while she hid inside a darkened classroom, her mother, Annmarie Jacobs, said. Emma, a junior, said in texts that her teacher had turned the lights off and told the students to sit in a corner.

Then Emma texted her mother, “omg she’s putting desk in front of the door.”

Jacobs said she was driving in Tennessee when she got the texts. She said she pulled over and started shaking.

Davidson has had problems. On March 21, 2016, Davidson tried to confess to having two friends kill someone. Police could not confirm the information and took him to a hospital because he was having suicidal thoughts.

Then, in January 2017, Davidson disappeared from school after saying he didn’t feel well. He was found hours later sitting on a curb about a mile away, unable or unwilling to respond to police. He was again taken to a hospital.