Hero principal saves student from vicious dog attack by beating animals off with his tennis rackets

GEORGIA -- A school principal in Atlanta, Georgia, has described how he beat off two dogs with tennis racquets to stop them attacking one of his students.

Jason Stamper, principal of technology at The New Schools at Carver, is being hailed a hero after he bravely put himself in harms way to save the life of 16-year-old Azarius Lowe on Monday afternoon.

The teen, who was outside during his lunch break, suffered multiple bite wounds to his face, arms and legs, and was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment, authorities said. However, the incident could have been much worse.

'Mr Stamper immediately responded to the baseball field and scared away the dogs, Atlanta police spokeswoman Officer Kim Jones said.

Stamper told Channel 2 Action News that he drove his car toward the dogs to try to scare them off of the teen.

But when that didn't work, he used some makeshift weapons he retrieved from his car to urge the dogs to move on.

'I actually was able to get them off with some tennis rackets,' Stamper said.

Lowe's father, Arthur Steverson, said his son was undergoing reconstructive surgery to repair gashes to his face.

He said the teen was in so much pain that he had to be sedated at the hospital.

'He's in pain. He's cut up. He's bit, he's bruised,' Steverson said.

The father added that his son will need at least two surgeries to repair the damage caused by the dogs.

But he wanted to thank Stamper for his bravery, knowing the outcome could have been much worse had it not been for him.

'We just want to thank him,' Steverson said. 'Because God always puts someone in place when someone's in need and I just thank God that he was there to assist him.'

Fulton County Animal Services officers set out traps for the dogs, which they have described as rottweilers but the school administration claimed they were pitbulls.

However, they haven't been captured yet, executive director Lara Hudson said. It's unclear who they belonged to.

Animal control officers were able to trap another dog accused of attacking a 13-year-old on Monday, Hudson said. That animal, however, is not related to the Carver incident.

The attack prompted a brief lockdown of the school.

(Daily Mail - Oct 9, 2013)