Virginia Teacher Arrested for Firing Blanks at Students

Virginia Teacher Arrested for Firing Blanks at Students

A Virginia teacher has been arrested and charged with 12 felony counts after reportedly pulling a blank gun on his students and firing several times.

The teacher “fired one for each student who was in there. And basically the charges result of inciting fear into the students," Washington County Sheriff Fred Newman said.

The incident happened just days after the fifth year anniversary of the infamous Virginia Tech shootings, during which 32 people were shot by a mentally deranged student.

Based on the reports of Kingsport Times, Manuael Ernest Dillow, 60, was teaching welding glass at an Abingdon, Virginia vocational school when he caught the attention of his students by forcing them to line up.

"He then pulled a 'blank firing handgun,' black in color, from the back waistband of his pants and discharged the weapon between four and ten shots in the direction of the line of the students," according to a police statement.

"The firearm was similar to that of a firearm that fires a projectile, thus placing the students in fear, according to statements. No students were physically injured as a result of the incident."

Sheriff Newman said Dillow apparently borrowed the gun, which is not capable of shooting actual bullets, from another school department.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office says the charges levied against Dillow are all class 6 felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine. Dillow has since been released on a $20,000 bond.

Posted by James Fried on Wednesday April 25 2012, 2:52 AM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, World. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0