Disclaimer: This article may contain the viewpoint and opinion of the author.
Crime rates are skyrocketing throughout the nation. Every day, Americans see videos of someone harming another person somewhere in the country. We watch helplessly as violence, pain, and suffering are brought upon an unsuspecting person.
Viewers can do nothing because they watch it on some social media websites long after the incident is over. People nearby during the incident get caught up videoing it for some warped sense of humor or are too scared to intervene.
Earlier this year, in May, three teachers out of Nashville, Tennessee were not going to stand idly by and watch their students become the latest victims of some lunatic. Rachel Davis, Shay Patton, and Katrina Thomas made a decision that saved lives.
On May 11th, an intruder broke into the Inglewood Elementary School in Nashville just around recess time. The man, Onreka Gray, tried to race into the school when he saw the door open for just a moment. Quick-thinking teachers who were willing to sacrifice themselves stopped him.
Kindergarten teacher Rachel Davis was the first to encounter the suspect. He was outside mumbling to himself when Ms. Davis started to get a bad feeling about the man. When another teacher opened the door to the school, he made his move trying to get inside.
Davis physically got in his way, wrapping her arms around Gray and telling the kids to run. He was able to break free of her grip and run into the hallway. “I was going to do anything in my power to protect these kids, not just my kindergarten kids,” she said. “All these kids feel like my kids.”
She tackled Gray from behind breaking her elbow in the process. As you can imagine, there was yelling and screaming in the hallway drawing the attention of School Secretary Katrina Thomas. She quickly jumped into the fray grabbing onto the deranged Gray and helping Davis fight for their lives.
Shay Patton joined her fellow educators in the struggle with this strange man who had forced his way into the school. For over ten minutes, the three women fought this man. His emotion alternated between brief moments of calm and then fits of rage.
“That was a long 10 minutes“, Davis said as the four wrestled and jostled, with the intruder alternating between calm and highly agitated. Gray smelled of alcohol and said he had used drugs, adding he felt paranoid that someone was out to get him, Davis said.
“But he was just wild,” said Thomas. “You know he was just over the top, fighting, scuffling, trying to get away.” Thomas put the man in a headlock as the four fought. Police arrived and took Gray into custody. It was only after the emotion subsided that Davis began to feel the pain of her broken elbow.
It was a fight for their lives and those of the children they are tasked with protecting. Nobody should doubt for a second, the women were fighting to save themselves, each other, and dozens of children. Nobody can know what would have happened if Gray had managed to get passed them.
Ten minutes of a fight like this is grueling. It seems like a lifetime when you are in the middle of a struggle. Your heart is racing and adrenaline is pumping like crazy. Your muscles are crying for oxygen and you know, if you lose, your life could very well be over. It is utterly exhausting.
School teachers and employees shouldn’t have to do this. They shouldn’t have to fight for their lives during school. Mental health treatment needs drastic change. Change that includes incarceration. Bleeding hearts need to go away as do those who make society unsafe.
