Dale Topham Wiki – Dale Topham Biography
Dale Topham, a visiting college history professor at Timberview High School, described the moment he heard “booming noises” coming from across the hall in the middle of his lesson on the Revolutionary War. Students at an Arlington, Texas, high school took action when the shots rang out on Wednesday morning – turning off the lights and locking the doors of their classrooms.
All of my students instantly recognized the sound and said ‘gunshots,’ they turned off the lights and hid behind the desks,” Topham recalled to The Post. One student tried to lock the door, but when that didn’t work, the group of 15- and 16-year-olds immediately pushed a bookcase, desks, and chairs against it.
Dale Topham Teacher describes harrowing moments after the texas high school shooting
Then, “We snuggled and waited for what seemed like forever,” Topham said. The students comforted each other while hiding, and “instantly” got on their phones to let their parents know they were okay, the teacher added. “A couple was excited and their friends ran up to them hugging them,” Topham said. “Most of the students handled it very well.”
Many were also exchanging messages in an attempt to find out what had happened. Police said 18-year-old Timothy George Simpkins drew a gun around 9:15 a.m. after fighting with another person in a classroom. Four people were injured, including two who suffered gunshot wounds. The school was closed, during which time Topham posted a photo showing the makeshift barricade his students piled up against the classroom door.
Finally, after the group spent about 30 minutes sheltering in place, a police officer came over to tell them to stay put while police searched for the shooter, Topham said. A while later, the same officer returned to inform the class that authorities would soon be evacuating the campus. Topham, who also teaches at Tarrant County College, said he has been through drills, but never before shooting at the school.
“I was trying to process the fact that it was gunshots, not flying desks,” Topham said, adding that to his students: “It was clear they were well trained, they knew exactly what to do.” His students were evacuated and taken by bus to a reunification area at the Performing Arts Center to reunite with their parents.
Topham said he did not know the suspect, who turned himself into a police station with his attorney hours after the incident. The shooting came just days after a Houston charter school shooting injured an administrator. The state’s deadliest school shooting occurred in May 2018 when a 17-year-old armed with a shotgun and pistol at Santa Fe High School shot dead 10 people, most of whom were students.
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