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Reports show Dalton teacher had previous bizarre run-ins with police

He believed the two "friends" had killed a woman with whom he had an affair. But police couldn't confirm that she ever existed.
Jesse Randall Davidson (Photo: Whitfiekd County Jail)

DALTON, Ga. — Police records show that a teacher who was arrested for firing a gun at school on Wednesday had, years before, turned himself in believing he had caused the death of a person that may not exist.

A popular teacher and sports radio personality in north Georgia, Randal Jesse Davidson, was taken into custody on Wednesday after barricading himself in a room at Dalton High School and firing a gun.

The bullet ultimately went out a window and never hit anyone, but the incident caused a full-scale lockdown until Davidson was taken into custody.

Now, it turns out, this wasn't his first unusual interaction with law enforcement. The department released two police reports to 11Alive – the only two on file involving the teacher – Wednesday night.

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Their first run-in with the teacher actually involved him coming to the police. A report filed on March 21, 2016, explains that Davidson arrived in the lobby and said he wanted to confess to having someone killed.

He then sat down with a detective and explained that he had apparently been having an internet affair with a woman that he ended after a few weeks and told his wife about it.

Davidson told police the woman had kids during this time and allegedly tried to continue the relationship. At some point, he said that this person became abusive to her children and he was approached by two friends who said they would "take care of her for him."

Credit: WXIA

He said on their next meeting, he asked if they had scared her, the report states, but they allegedly told him they had done "worse than that."

That was when he apparently approached the police. However, an investigation and communications with neighboring law enforcement never uncovered proof that this woman existed or matched any missing person. Meanwhile, Davidson also refused to identify the friends he referred to or provide contact information and said he had already deleted information that may help police.

He did, however, tell police that he had just gotten out of the hospital and was on several medications for depression.

The report ultimately ends with the finding that Davidson appeared to be "delusional or having something else that had occurred that is causing him to have these thoughts."

He was then taken to a hospital for observation.

It would be another year before police would file another report related to Davidson, on Jan. 25, 2017. This time, Davidson had apparently told coworkers that he wasn't feeling well and was going to go home.

However, when his wife arrived to pick him up, no one could find him. At first, faculty said he was in a hallway far away from his classroom. However, he wasn't there when officers arrived.

It wasn't until hours later that day that he was found near the intersection of School and April Streets. Police arrived to find Davidson sitting on the curb and being held upright by staff members of the school.

He was conscious but would not react or respond to officers and was taken to a local hospital by emergency medical services.

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