Former Dalton teacher sentenced for firing gun inside classroom

DALTON, Ga. - A former Dalton teacher who fired his gun inside a classroom will go to prison for two years.

Jesse Randal Davidson, 53, pleaded guilty to felony charges and a misdemeanor in a Whitfield County courtroom Tuesday.

The charges included criminal damage to property and carrying a weapon within a school safety zone.

Once released from prison, Davidson will be on probation for eight years.

It happened February 28. Prosecutors said Davidson brought the gun, a snub-nosed .38 revolver, onto campus in his computer case, barricaded himself inside his classroom, and fired a shot through a window. Officials said that Davidson surrendered after the School Resource officer talked him out of his classroom.

No students were in the classroom at the time. The only injury reported was a student who hurt their ankle running during the evacuation of the school.

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He initially was charged with aggravated assault, carrying a weapon on school grounds, terroristic threats, reckless conduct, possession of a firearm during a commission of a crime, and disrupting a public school.

Davidson had been at the school since 2004. He was a social studies teacher and also was the play-by-play announcer for the high school's football team.

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