Students Joked Fired Teacher Might Snap

Shane Schumerth had to be escorted out of class, students say
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 7, 2012 12:01 PM CST
Students Joked Fired Teacher Might Snap
In this May 6, 2010 photo, Dale Regan is pictured on the campus of Episcopal High School in Jacksonville, Fla.   (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Jon M. Fletcher)

Shane Schumerth was an "awkward man" who didn't seem to fit in, Episcopal High School students say, and when he was fired yesterday morning and escorted off the Jacksonville campus, some of the students joked that he would return to campus and do something. And he did: Police say the 28-year-old former Spanish teacher killed Head of School Dale Regan yesterday afternoon before turning his AK-47 on himself.

Schumerth "was shy and he sat by himself a lot at lunch," one eighth-grader tells the Florida Times-Union. "He didn’t really seem to fit in with the other teachers." Another 16-year-old adds that students knew the "awkward" Schumerth had to be escorted out of class. He previously taught at an elementary school, but resigned from that school system in June 2010. He was given "do not hire" status at that time because he broke an agreement to stay at the school for three years after receiving a bonus, WJXX/WTLV-TV reports. He started working at Episcopal in August 2010. The Times-Union notes that he had no known criminal record, and it found no evidence of any school-related disciplinary actions in online state records. (More Shane Schumerth stories.)

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