A Student Was Shot At A Florida School On National Walkout Day

There was another school shooting Friday, on the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado. They have been continuous since Parkland.

Students at Forest High School in Ocala, FL, had been planning on participating in the day's National School Walkout, which was created to coincide with Columbine's anniversary by 16-year-old high schooler Lane Murdock, along with thousands of children across the country. But instead of continuing to put America on notice about gun violence, they found themselves amid yet another national news story.

A 19-year-old man who is not a current student at the school shot a 17-year-old male student in the ankle on Friday morning, according to the Ocala Star-Banner. The shooter is currently in police custody, and the victim is being treated in a local hospital after suffering a non-life-threatening injury. The high school, which has about 2,200 students, and 17 other schools in the area were placed on lockdown.

Students were taken off-campus to the First Baptist Church to be reunited with their parents. There, law enforcement also questioned those who witnessed the shooting. Senior Ashley Tucker told the Star-Banner that she was in her first-period psychology class when she heard the Code Red alarm. She thought it might have been a drill. She said teachers had the teens construct a barricade made out of desks and anything else they could find against the door of their classroom. She was texting with her mom the entire time.

A student posted a photo of one of the barricades on Twitter.

Because of the shooting, the Marion County School District canceled National School Walkout events. But judging by the photos from walkouts in every state, young activists are undeterred in their efforts. This most recent shooting just further underscores how necessary they are.