The gunman who opened fire at Forest High School in Ocala three years ago has been sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Sky Bouche, 22, a former Forest High School student, pleaded no contest to charges connected with the April 20, 2018 shooting incident. He must serve a minimum of 25 years behind bars and pay restitution of $14,000. His prison term will be followed by 30 years of probation.
Bouche entered the school a little more three years ago with a short-barrel shotgun in a guitar case, a tactical vest and extra ammunition. He fired one shot that pierced a door and injured a 17-year-old student. He then entered a nearby classroom and calmly talked with a teacher until School Resource Officer Jimmy Long arrived to arrest him.
Long, a Marion County sheriff’s deputy who was hailed as a hero for his quick actions and honored by then-Gov. Rick Scott and then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, heard the shot and had Bouche in custody within minutes.
After being arrested, Bouche said he shot at the bottom of the classroom door and was sorry for his actions. He was transported to the Marion County Jail and charged with terrorism, aggravated assault with a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm, possession of a short-barreled shotgun, possession of a firearm on school property, armed trespass on school property, interference in school function and culpable negligence. He was held without bond and initially entered a plea of not guilty.
The shooting brought out a huge contingent of law enforcement officers from throughout Central Florida and Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods held a press conference to brief the public on the incident that came on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School attack. Woods also offered praise for his deputy.
“That man, in my eyes, is a hero,” Woods said of the then-25-year deputy who had been a school resource officer at Forest High for 10 years. “Less than three minutes after hearing a gunshot, he took the suspect into custody. And the principal (Brent Carson) followed that deputy, doing what he needed to do to protect the students he is responsible for.”
Woods didn’t identify the victim on the day of the shooting but said he was doing well and expected to make a full recovery. He also called the student a hero.
“I sent my chief deputy over to visit him and during their conversation, he said, ‘I am glad it was me and not one of my friends,’” Woods said. “His parents should be very proud of their son because they have done something right with him.”
Woods also praised the many officers and deputies from throughout the area who came to help, as well as Marion County Fire Rescue, nearby hospital personnel who were prepared for the worse and school administrators, teachers and students who quickly followed active-shooter protocol.
“Hundreds came and did not hesitate to enter that school to find the shooter,” Woods said. “And it wasn’t just law enforcement. Fire Rescue was there to help get victims out. Hospitals were prepared. And school officials and students made sure the doors were locked” and took other actions such as piling desks, shelves and cabinets against the classroom doors.
The video shows Long going classroom to classroom to assess the situation while calling for the school to be locked down and additional manpower to help him. He sees the shotgun in the hallway and continues checking classrooms with his gun drawn until he reaches the one where Bouche is calmly sitting in a school desk.
After placing Bouche in handcuffs, Long clears the classroom. Bouche then apologizes to Long and says, “I wasn’t raised by the right people,” adding, there’s “a lot of violence and medication” use in his family.
Bouche also told Long, “I don’t know why I did it, sir.”
Long questions Bouche about any other weapons or explosives on the grounds of the school. He assures the deputy that there are no others and shows him a table where he put his shotguns shells and a knife.
Bouche, who assured deputies that he was a “lone wolf,” eventually is led to an Ocala Police patrol car before being transported to the Marion County Jail. Deputies and officers removed his tactical vest and gloves before putting on a second set of handcuffs to make sure that he was secured.
