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Friday, March 29, 2024
<p>A Marion County Sheriff's Deputy stands outside Forest High School as students exit the school after a school shooting occurred, Friday, April 20, 2018 in Ocala, Fla. One student shot another in the ankle at the high school and a suspect is in custody, authorities said Friday. The injured student was taken to a local hospital for treatment. (</p>

A Marion County Sheriff's Deputy stands outside Forest High School as students exit the school after a school shooting occurred, Friday, April 20, 2018 in Ocala, Fla. One student shot another in the ankle at the high school and a suspect is in custody, authorities said Friday. The injured student was taken to a local hospital for treatment. (

Update midnight Saturday: The 19-year-old accused Ocala high school shooter is being charged with terrorism for shooting a student through a door.

The suspect, Sky Bouche, is being held without bond in the Marion County Jail on eight charges, which also include aggravated assault with a firearm and possession of a short-barreled shotgun, according to a Marion County Sheriff’s Office news release.

An investigation into the shooting at Forest Hill High School Friday found that Bouche targeted a school because he had done research on what would bring the most media attention, authorities said.

After arrest, Bouche made several statements about potentially conducting another shooting and said he originally intended to conduct the shooting on Friday the 13th but changed his mind, the sheriff’s office said. He also told detectives he felt ignored.

Detectives found that Bouche drove to the school and walked onto campus with a sawed-off shotgun concealed in a guitar case, authorities said.

Bouche went into a bathroom to prepare for the shooting, the sheriff’s office said. He put on a pair of gloves and a tactical vest. When he left the bathroom, he shot one round through a classroom door that injured a 17-year-old male student, according to the report.

The sheriff’s office has not released the name of the injured student. The student was taken to a hospital and suffered from non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said.

Deputy Jim Long heard the gunshot at 8:39 a.m. and responded to the scene, authorities said. At 8:42 a.m., he took Bouche into custody.

Update 7:20 p.m. Friday: Marion County Sheriff's Office arrested a former student of Forest High School for a shooting at the school Friday morning.

Sky Bouche, 19, of Crystal River, Florida, was charged with eight counts, including terrorism, aggravated assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm on school property and possession of a short-barreled shotgun.

Deputies said Bouche shot a 17-year-old male student with a 17.5” barreled shotgun. The student was taken to the hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries and is in stable condition.

Bouche was escorted from the school in a white jumpsuit by MCSO deputies, according to a video posted on the MCSO’s Facebook page. Media asked him why he had gone to the school with a gun and shot the student.

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“I shot through the door,” he said. “I didn’t see anyone, I didn’t see anyone.”

Reporters asked if why he was shooting blindly into the school, and he didn’t respond. He spoke again when a voice off camera asked if he had anything to say.

“Sorry,” he said, pausing. “It doesn’t make it better anyways.”

Bouche lives 41 miles from the high school where deputies detained him.

Update 12:25 p.m. Friday: Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods said the accused Forest High School shooter is a 19-year-old who does not currently attend the school.

Woods said the victim is a 17-year-old male student, who was taken to a hospital for his injuries but is in stable condition, at a press conference early afternoon Friday.

The shooting was intentional, he said. Today marks the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colorado, where 12 students and one teacher were killed in 1999. School walkouts were planned in accordance with the anniversary across the country. 

The names of the victim and the accused shooter have not been released.

Woods said a school resource officer heard a loud bang that sounded like gunfire and ran toward it at about 8:40 a.m. He disarmed the suspect within minutes. The shooter did not resist arrest, Woods said.

“I want to assure Marion County residents that today, they should be proud of their first responders,” he said.

jim long

School Resource Officer Jim Long

MCSO spokesperson Lauren Lettelier said school resource officer Jim Long has been with the sheriff’s office for 25 years and at Forest High School for 10.

Woods said the shooting took place in one of the buildings on the school’s campus. The sheriff’s office is investigating if the shooter was targeting certain students, Woods said. He said he could not confirm whether the shooter is a former Forest High student because of the ongoing investigation.

Deputies are also patrolling other Marion County schools, and all rumors or potential threats will be investigated and taken seriously, Woods said. But he said nothing has occurred at other schools in the county.

“It’s a shame what society has come to,” Woods said. “My feelings, my emotions are running rampant.”

Update noon Friday: A shooting threat at Westport High School in Ocala was unfounded, said Kayla Welch, an executive secretary for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Some nearby schools were put on a code red, which locks down all school doors, in response to the threat. Welch could not confirm which schools.

Initially, some nearby schools were put on code red in response to threat, but now all schools are under code red for rest of school day.

All schools under code red as a precaution for rest of day, and school isn’t canceled.

Update 10:50 a.m. Friday: The suspect is male, but no additional information is available, said Marion County Sheriff’s Office executive secretary Kayla Welch. SWAT is performing a secondary sweep of the school. Local, state and federal law enforcement are assisting Marion County Public Schools by increasing law enforcement presence at all schools in the county.

Welch said there are rumors of other shootings currently in the county — these are not true.

Marion County middle and high schools remain in code yellow, which closes campuses to outsiders, as a precaution.

Original Story: One person is injured and a suspect is in custody after a reported shooting at Forest High School in Marion County, authorities reported.

There is no confirmed information on the shooter or injured, said Kayla Welch, an executive secretary for the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Four minutes after classes typically start at Forest High School, police were called. By 8:42 a.m., the suspect was in custody Welch said. MCSO is clearing each room in the building and evacuating students to the First Baptist Church of Ocala, located at 2801 SE Maricamp Road, she said.

The on-campus officer responded almost immediately, Welch said.

Marion County Public Schools tweeted the victim was sent to the hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries.

All Marion County middle and high schools are on a code yellow, which closes campuses to outsiders, as a precaution. The MCSO Facebook page will be updated, Welch said.

Governor Rick Scott tweeted he was briefed by Marion County’s Sheriff Billy Woods and had talked to other officials.

“I’ve offered any state support in Marion County they may need,” he wrote.

Forest High School has 2,350 students and 125 teachers, according to its website.

A Marion County Sheriff's Deputy stands outside Forest High School as students exit the school after a school shooting occurred, Friday, April 20, 2018 in Ocala, Fla. One student shot another in the ankle at the high school and a suspect is in custody, authorities said Friday. The injured student was taken to a local hospital for treatment. (

One person is injured and a suspect is in custody after a reported shooting at Forest High School in Marion County, authorities reported. The high school's location is pictured above. 

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