Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 21, 1990 TAG: 9005210265
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A/2 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CENTERVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
Assistant Principal Ron Wallace was slain Sunday morning after stumbling upon the teacher "engaged in an activity that he didn't want public," said Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent Tom Brown. Brown would not elaborate.
The teacher, Donald Givens, 50, was held without bail today on charges of murder and arson.
Wallace, 41, had been at Hickman County High School to put the finishing touches on the auditorium for an afternoon religious service for graduates, Principal Rick Brewer said.
Wallace surprised Givens, and the teacher "panicked and reacted without thinking and set the fire to cover it up," Brown said.
Wallace was shot twice, and the body was discovered in the hall outside the biology laboratory at the burning building, said police Officer Howard Choate.
Candles were used to set fire to the science wing, and fires were also set in two libraries, Choate said. He said the natural gas in the biology lab had been turned on, but firefighters shut it off before it ignited.
Firefighters put out the blazes 20 minutes after the 9 a.m. call. Damage, estimated at $150,000, was confined to books and materials.
Before his arrest Sunday, Givens had come to the school and acted like one of the bereaved faculty, sitting at a desk and drinking coffee, Fire Chief Kenneth Thompson said. He would not say what led authorities to Givens.
Wallace was assistant principal and athletic director at the school in this town of 2,800 people 40 miles southwest of Nashville. His daughter, April, class president, is among the graduating seniors at the 850-student school.
Classes were canceled today.
by CNB