Kindergarten teacher tackles intruder at her school

Good morning, friends. This is Tennessean storytelling columnist Brad Schmitt.

Ever wonder if you'd have the guts to stop someone from hurting others, especially kids? A kindergarten teacher at Inglewood Elementary School in Nashville no longer has to wonder.

Rachel Davis — who stands 5-feet-5 and weighs 130 pounds — threw herself on top of an intruder who broke into her school May 11.

Then she and two school staffers, Nikki Thomas and Shay Patton-Thomas (not related), alternatively wrestled and tried to reason with him for a harrowing 10 minutes until police arrived.

Davis is an unlikely "bad-ass hero," parent Kate Whitley said.

"She's very petite and organized and color coded and logical," Whitley said. "I didn't know this fierce lion was lurking in there. She put her own life at risk so my daughter’s wasn’t."

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This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Kindergarten teacher tackles intruder at her school