School Officer Stops Shooter in Just 3 Minutes. 'Hand of God Was Over Our Children’
Students at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida, planned to walk out on April 20 as part of a national protest against gun violence.
Unbelievably, before the walkout could even take place, yet another deranged 19-year-old gunman — eerily reminiscent of the Stoneman Douglas shooter in February — entered the school and started shooting.
One 17-year-old student was shot in the ankle and taken to the hospital. His injuries are not life-threatening, and the teen reportedly said he was thankful that it was himself who took the bullet instead of one of his friends.
Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods praised the boy’s altruistic words, adding the boy’s parents they should feel proud of their son’s selfless attitude. “You should be proud because you’ve done something right,” Woods stated.
Woods also praised school resource officer Deputy Jimmy Long, who heard a shot ring out and immediately knew what was happening. He raced to the scene, and took 19-year-old Sky Bouche into custody.
Woods told reporters that Long’s quick-thinking efforts were heroic. Without hesitation, Long “recognized what we had at the time,” and rushed to stop the scene from escalating.
“It’s a shame what society has come to in that we even have to be here on a school campus,” Woods lamented. “Society has changed since I was in school.”
Emotions are high as yet another school shooting has transpired in a Florida high school in only a matter of months. But this isn’t a Florida problem — this is an American problem, one rooted in the depravity of the human heart.
“We as a whole need to do something,” Woods pleaded. “My emotions are running rampant.”
Details have since emerged about Bouche, who attended Forest High School before dropping out at age 16.
He faces charges including terrorism, aggravated assault with a firearm, and possession of a firearm on school property.
Bouche purchased the 1930 shotgun illegally online, a hurried purchase he made after the Stoneman Douglas massacre.
He spoke about the “adrenaline rush” he felt storming onto school property, a rush that quickly deadened after he fired the first shot.
School officials agreed that Long’s quick response potentially saved lives. “The hand of God was over our children today,” Marion County School Superintendent Heidi Maier stated.
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