One student shot another in the ankle at a Florida high school and a suspect is in custody, authorities said Friday.
The Ocala Star-Banner reports the shooting happened Friday morning at Forest High School, which was put on lockdown. The injured student was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
Police say the suspected shooter is also a student at the school. His age was not immediately available.
The shooting happened at 8.39am, just as students around the country prepared to walk out to protest gun violence on the anniversary of the massacre at Colorado’s Columbine High School.
One student shot another in the ankle at Forest High School in Ocala, Florida (pictured), and a suspect is in custody
Chris Oliver said his 16-year-old son, a Forest student, told him the shooting took place near his classroom. The boy told Oliver the gunman was standing in a hallway and shot at a closed classroom door.
The shooter then dropped an unspecified weapon, ran and tried to hide, the boy told his father.
He was apprehended within three minutes of the incident.
All students were being taken by bus to First Baptist Church of Ocala, where parents can pick them up, officials said.
School district spokesman Kevin Christian sent a recorded phone message to parents by phone urging them to stay away from the school.
Forest High has an enrollment of more than 2,000 students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Thursday’s incident comes just over nine weeks after 19-year-old Nikolas Cruz opened fire inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killing 17 people.