A teacher was taken into custody Wednesday after he fired at least one shot inside a Georgia classroom, police said.
Jesse Davidson, a 53-year-old social studies teacher, barricaded himself inside a classroom at Dalton High School on Wednesday morning, Feb. 28, according to Tweets from the Dalton Police Department.
One student who injured her ankle as the school was being evacuated was treated by medics at the school. No other children were injured or in danger, according to police. The Georgia State Patrol also responded to the incident.
Police spokesman Bruce Frazier said students tried to enter a classroom about 11:30 a.m., but the teacher wouldn't allow them in, according to video of press conferences posted by WTVC-TV.
Davidson forced the door shut when the principal tried to open it. The teacher then fired a shot from a handgun through a window, Frazier said.
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"Obviously, at that point, he locked down the school," Frazier said.
The shot did not appear to be aimed at anyone, Frazier said. Davidson surrendered less than an hour later. Parents were advised to meet their children at a convention center nearby. The school serves about 2,000 students, according to its website.
The alerts were particularly jarring on a day when much of the country watched students return to the high school in Parkland, Florida, where 17 people were gunned down on Valentine's Day:
"DPD on scene at report of shot or shots fired at Dalton High. NO CHILDREN ARE INJURED OR IN DANGER"
"There is a barricaded subject in a classroom. It is believed to be a teacher."
"PARENTS DO NOT COME TO DALTON HIGH"
Story by Debbie Truong. Truong covers education in Virginia. She previously wrote about communities in central Virginia for the Richmond Times-Dispatch, where her reporting covered housing, education and poverty issues.
