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During the Dalton High School shooting, in which a teacher, identified by police as Jesse Randall Davidson by police, also known as Randall Davidson, barricaded himself in a classroom with a gun, no children were believed to have been killed or seriously injured, although one student was reported to have been hurt while trying to flee from the incident, having been evacuated by police to a safe space. In the wake of the shooting, many of Davidson’s students have come out to discuss what happened and what they knew about Davidson, also sharing what they experienced firsthand.
What are the students saying?
From social media posts, it appeared that Davidson was a popular teacher at the school, where he was employed since 2004 as a social studies teacher and an announcer for the school’s football team. In light of the incident, even former students have also discussed what happened. On social media, various posts written about Davidson from various students have included:
“Mr. Davidson was my favorite teacher. This is so heartbreaking. It can be anyone.”
“He will remain the best teacher i’ve ever had. He was so loving and caring filled with laughters and jokes. It hurts knowing it was him who shot the gun. I LOVE and will MISS you Mr. Davidson. Trust me i will visit you. #daltonhighschool @11AliveNews”
“Something like this is so unexpected from one of my favorite teachers ever. Praying for every student and faculty member at DHS, including Mr. Davidson, who obviously needs some help and guidance. Love one another always.”
Many were trying to find answers to why the incident happened.
“No one ever pushed politics in any of my classes. Especially Mr Davidson”
“The teacher is by himself; Randall Davidson; Maybe suicide?”
What was it like to go through the incident?
Other students gave their testimonies over what they experienced during the shooting:
“I have no words to describe how I feel about the
#Dalton situation. One moment I was eating lunch and studying for my Chem test next period and the next I was running for what I thought was my life. No student should ever feel the way that my fellow classmates and I did today.”“It’s truly terrifying when someone you knew and got to know this past year does something like this. I go to Dalton High School and I never imagined anything like this would happen in my school. I almost got trampled in the cafeteria trying to evacuate. #daltonhighschool”
Dalton High School Students Social Media Posts
Mr.Davidson was my favorite teacher. This is so heart breaking. It can be anyone #DALTON
— alyssa
(@alyssaflynn10) February 28, 2018
(@alyssaflynn10) 