Matt Hamilton/Daily Citizen-NewsRandal Davidson, a teacher at Dalton High School, holds a copy of his book "Catamounts! The Glorious History of Dalton Football, Volume 1." Davidson was arrested Wednesday after firing a gun in his classroom.

DALTON, Ga. — When high school football fans tuned their radios to WYYU-104.5 FM for Dalton Catamounts games on fall Friday nights, Randal Davidson was the familiar voice they heard.

As the play-by-play announcer for Dalton High football, Davidson was the voice of the Catamounts — describing every thrilling touchdown and every heartbreaking loss — and painting a picture for those following along on the radio. Davidson was a household name among those who never saw his face.

So friends were shocked to learn that Davidson, a social studies teacher at Dalton High School, was arrested Wednesday on multiple charges after firing a bullet from a handgun in his classroom. No one was shot and there were no major injuries. One student hurt her ankle as the school was evacuated.

Rick Zeisig is the Dalton High football public address announcer and worked one booth over from Davidson in the press box at Harmon Field during games. Zeisig said he met Davidson in 1995 when Zeisig was working at a local radio station that hired Davidson. Zeisig said he was “in shock” at reports Davidson had barricaded himself in a classroom at Dalton High and fired a shot through a window.

“Prior to today, if someone had asked me which teacher at Dalton High cares most about the students, his would have been the first name I would have said,” Zeisig said.

Zeisig said that his daughter, Grace, was “severely bullied” during her senior year at Dalton High School.

“Randal Davidson put a stop to that,” Zeisig said. “He went to the students responsible and let them know in no uncertain terms that it was wrong and it had to stop, and it did.”

Zeisig called Davidson the radio station’s “ace in the hole.”

“He could go to ESPN and do regional football,” Zeisig said. “He was that talented, and we saw that. He was at the radio station full time and went back to school to get his teaching certificate.”

Davidson, 53, graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2004 and began teaching at Dalton High that same year. He became the on-air play-by-play announcer for Dalton High sports, most notably calling Friday night football games. Davidson also produced a local sports segment that ran weekday mornings on local radio stations. He authored two books on the history of Dalton High football: “Catamounts! The Glorious History of Dalton Football, Volume 1 and Volume 2.”

“He really loved Dalton High. He loved Dalton High School sports,” said Zeisig. “He really loved this community.”

“The last time I saw him was the last football game of last year, so I guess that would have been late October or early November,” he said. “There was nothing out of the ordinary. He was the same old Randal.”

Zeisig said he was “struggling to hold back my emotions” Wednesday night.

“My heart goes out to him, to his wife, his kids, his grandkids,” he said.

Stephen Gregg met Davidson about 22 years ago when Gregg moved back to Dalton from southern Alabama.

“I had done sports broadcasting down in Alabama, so I put my name in at the radio station in case something came up,” he said. “Randal had been recently hired as news and sports director for the station, and he was looking for someone to do a sports scoreboard show after Dalton High football games, the show that became ‘Sports Rock.’ I was hired for that.”

Gregg said Davidson was a “strong advocate for all of our local athletic programs.”

“Some people associate him just with Dalton High School. But he was an advocate for Dalton, for Northwest, for Southeast, for Murray, North Murray, for Christian Heritage,” Gregg said. “He was for the kids and for their programs.”

Both men had career changes within just a few years of each other.

“I was in banking, and he went into teaching,” he said. “And I recall when he made that switch from radio to teaching how much he loved it. He loved teaching. He loved the kids. I know so many students who had him and spoke so well of him, and I know how proud he was of that.”

Davidson was named Dalton High’s STAR teacher in 2012.

The two continued to work together, most recently co-hosting Dalton State College basketball games.

“Two weeks ago, we did the last home Dalton State Roadrunner game together,” he said. “It was a pretty typical game. He was just like he always was. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

Gregg said he was stunned by Wednesday’s events at Dalton High.

“It was completely unexpected,” he said.

Gregg also calls Northwest Whitfield High School football games on the radio.

“Sports broadcasting is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child,” he said. “At the end of every football season, I always thank him because he gave me the opportunity to do that. And I’m just thinking about him and his family and all of his students at Dalton High.”

When contacted by a reporter Wednesday night, Patrick Gregory, Davidson’s partner and the color commentator for Dalton High football games, declined to comment.

On Feb. 17, just three days after the shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school that killed 17 and left 14 others injured, a Facebook page that appears to belong to Davidson shared a graphic of a control panel lined with buttons that primarily read “Do Something.” Rather than engage any of those buttons, the illustrated hand points to a single button labeled “Thoughts & Prayers,” a common refrain from many after a school shooting.

“Not much to add to this one,” Davidson wrote.