Police: Teaching assistant arrested for shoving 10-year-old also fired gun at teens

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Court records show a teacher's assistant who was arrested after pushing down a student was also arrested earlier this year after police say she fired a gun at a group of teenagers.

Channel 2 Action News first reported on Carlas Smith, a teaching assistant at McNair Discovery Learning Academy, earlier this week. Smith, 47, is accused of using her hands to push a 10-year-old boy to the floor at school on Dec. 7. Smith was arrested Thursday on simple battery charges.

Channel 2's Christian Jennings dug into Smith's background and found that she was also arrested for an incident with minors in April. Jennings tracked down Smith's arrest report at the DeKalb County Courthouse.

According to documents, Smith was arrested in April for shooting at a group of teens who were using a cut-through on her property to get to a nearby store. Smith was charged with reckless conduct.

Two of those teens' mothers reached out to Jennings. Shadonna Veney and Tulisu Walker called Jennings as soon as they saw the report of Smith's arrest on Channel 2 Action News. Veney and Walker said they are stunned that Smith was still being allowed to work with children.

"I watched it on Channel 2, and I couldn't believe it," Walker said. "She needs to be fired and go to jail."

TENDING STORIES:

• A judge struck down Obamacare nationwide. Here's how it could affect Georgia:
• Multiple people injured in deck collapse, police say
• Year's brightest comet flies by Earth this weekend

The women say they immediately recognized Smith's mug shot when they saw it on TV.

"When I (saw) it, I was like, 'OMG that's her.' She was shooting at my son and his friends and I'm like, 'How does she have a job working with kids?'" Walker said.

The shooting in April happened near Smith's home on Powhatan Road in Ellenwood. Veney said her son was almost shot.

"One of the bullets grazed my son's shoe, and one of the bullets actually went through the boys's shorts," Veney said.

Jennings talked to Veney's 17-year-old son, Keldazion, who showed her the shoe. He said he and his friends were walking back from Dollar General, cutting through the woods, when they heard gunshots.

"(It was) scary," Kedazion said. "And I couldn't breathe."

The arrest warrant said Smith fired her personal weapon three times over her head and over the heads of three teens into the trees as warning shots.

Smith didn't come to the door when Jennings went by her house for comment. Jennings also reached out to the DeKalb County School District to see if they knew about the prior arrest, but officials did not respond.

The school district said earlier that Smith is on paid administrative leave because of the most recent arrest.

Cox Media Group