Police: Dalton teacher arrested after firing handgun at school

DALTON, Ga. - A teacher is in custody after authorities say he barricaded himself in a classroom and fired a handgun at a Dalton school on Wednesday morning.

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Dalton police identified the teacher as 53-year-old Jesse Randal Davidson, a social studies teacher at Dalton High School who was also the play-by-play announcer for the high school's football team.

Police say that just before noon, students tried to get into Davidson's classroom, but he wouldn't let them in. The principal was shut out too.

"I put my key in the door. He slammed the door before I could open it," Dalton High School Principal Steve Bartoo said. "He said 'don't come in here I have a gun'"

Davidson was taken into custody after a 30- to 45-minute standoff with police. 

According to officials, he brought the gun, a snub-nosed .38 revolver, onto campus in his computer case. In a press conference, officials said that Davidson surrendered after the School Resource officer talked him out of his classroom.

RELATED: Police report: Dalton High School suspect 'may be delusional'

Davidson has been at the school since 2004. Police currently say they do not know his motive, and that he hasn't told their investigators any motivation for his actions.

He has now been 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.

The only injury reported was a student who hurt their ankle running during the evacuation of Dalton High School.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.