One student was shot after a gunman opened fire at Forest High School in Ocala early this morning.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said a 19-year-old suspect was taken into custody without incident just moments after the school’s resource officer heard the gunshot at 8:39 a.m. Woods added that the 17-year-old victim suffered non-life threatening-injuries.
Later in the morning, as SWAT officers did a secondary sweep of the campus, the school’s roughly 2,000 students were bused to the nearby Baptist Church of Ocala to be picked up by their parents. And despite rumors that persisted throughout the morning, Woods said there were no other threats at any Marion County schools.
Woods didn’t release the name of the suspect, nor what kind of weapon was used. He also said it was too early to talk about the charges the suspect will face.
Overall, the sheriff said he’s quite proud of the way his school resource officer and his fellow deputies handled the situation.
“Hundreds of law enforcement immediately responded,” Woods said. “And they did not hesitate. Basically in three minutes we engaged the shooter and took him into custody.”
Woods also praised the Marion County School District for following active-shooter protocols that are designed to protect students in these types of situations.
“What they put in place saved lives today,” he said.
On a personal level, Woods said it’s “a shame” that such a situation could happen on a school campus.
“Society has changed since I was a kid in school,” he said. “This is not just a law enforcement problem. This is a society problem and we need to do something.”
Woods added that it was a particularly difficult day to handle such a situation on the heels of two deputies being gunned down and killed in nearby Gilchrist County on Thursday.
“My emotions are running rampant,” he said, adding that he spent more than six hours with Gilchrist County Sheriff Bobby Schultz on Thursday. “I’m angry. I’m sad and I want to do something. And we will do something and we are doing something. That’s evident of the success of the actions of the first responders here today.”