Armed Teacher Opens Fire at Georgia School

Incident follows a debate about whether teachers should carry guns

| February 28, 2018 @ 2:25 PM Last Updated: February 28, 2018 @ 2:39 PM
Dalton teacher shooting

Police arrested a Georgia teacher for firing a gun at school, just days after President Donald Trump ignited a national debate over whether some teachers should carry weapons to protect their students.

No one was injured at Dalton High School except for a student who injured an ankle while running, police spokesman Bruce Frazier told CNN. Police identified the shooter as social studies teacher Randal Davidson, 53, who surrendered at the scene.

One Dalton student tweeted to the National Rifle Association: “my favorite teacher at Dalton high school just blockaded his door and proceeded to shoot. We had to run out. The back of the school in the rain. Students were being trampled and screaming. I dare you to tell me arming teachers will make us safe.”

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The north Georgia shooting occurred about 85 miles north of Atlanta — and 700 miles north of Parkland, Florida, site of the school mass-shooting that killed 17 two weeks ago.

Trump said in response to that shooting that perhaps some specially trained teachers should be armed, and paid a little extra for carrying a weapon to school.

“These people are cowards. They’re not going to walk into a school if 20 percent of the teachers have guns — it may be 10 percent or may be 40 percent. And what I’d recommend doing is the people that do carry, we give them a bonus. We give them a little bit of a bonus,” Trump said. “They’ll frankly feel more comfortable having the gun anyway. But you give them a little bit of a bonus.”

The NRA has also supported the idea of arming teachers.

Also Read: Why Is Alex Jones Feuding With a 17-Year-Old School Shooting Survivor?

High school students have become some of the country’s most visible gun-control advocates since the Parkland shooting. One student, 17-year-old David Hogg, has feuded with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones over Jones’ claim that school shootings are routinely faked to drum up support for gun control.

The Dalton High School situation began about 11:30 a.m. ET when Davidson would not let students into his classroom, Frazier said. When the principal tried to enter, Davidson fired a shot through an outside classroom window, Frazier added.
The school went into lockdown, and police arrived and evacuated the area. Davidson agreed to surrender about 30 to 45 minutes later, CNN reported.
“It certainly seemed like he didn’t have any intention to harm anybody else,” Frazier told the network.

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Some famous members are strongly against gun control, while others have distanced themselves from the group’s most extreme stances

The National Rifle Association has stood up for gun owners for years, but come under heavy criticism for opposing gun control after mass shootings from San Bernardino to Orlando. Some celebrity members of the group have stood by it, while others have distanced themselves from certain stances.

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