MARION COUNTY, Fla. – Recently obtained documents show that no criminal charges were filed after a Forest High School shooting suspect was investigated by authorities in the past for comments he allegedly made online.
The documents obtained by News 6 show that an Ocala police officer was contacted on Oct. 9, 2013, by a Marion County sheriff's detective who indicated that he needed to disclose information about a middle school student.
The detective said he worked with the Federal Bureau of Investigations Safe Streets Task Force, and that he was with the Marion County Sheriff's Office. The detective indicated that his agency was contacted by the San Francisco FBI Office about the possible student threat.
The student, identified in the documents by police as Sky Bouche, had apparently watched a YouTube video of the Columbine school shooting and made numerous inflamed derogatory comments with him agreeing with the violent incident, according to the documents.
Officials said Bouche posted on comment in particular that read, "I'm thinking about doing my school the same way, I have enough guns and ammo. I have been planning for months, but not sure when to do it."
The student thought about committing suicide, according to the transcript, but decided not to follow up with it, officials said.
After discussing the matter with the school and authorities, police said Bouche was interviewed by the detective about the YouTube posting.
Bouche admitted he made the posting in June 2013 while school was not in session, but denied owning any firearms and said that he wrote the comments to garner attention because he felt hopeless, police said.
Bouche said that, at that time, he was experiencing family problems and was not mentally stable. Police said the student stated he had suicidal thoughts in the past.
The detective went to Bouche's home and obtained consent to check the house for firearms, police said. The detective found numerous replicas of guns, which were either airsoft, BB guns or pellet guns. However, the replicas looked like real firearms, police said.
The school officials referred Bouche for suicidal and violence risk assessment. Police said Bouche was spoken to by the school's guidance counselor.
There were no criminal charges associated with the incident, police said.
The detective indicated that his agency handled the situation as a mental issue involving the student, police said. The detective also indicated that Bouche did not make credible and specific threats to harm his middle school.
Bouche, who was only 15 years old at the time, had not acted in a manner that would have warranted criminal charges then, deputies said Friday in a news release.
Deputies said that had Bouche made the threatening comments under the newly amended Florida Statute 836.10, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act would have allowed authorities to take criminal action against Bouche.
The new law, put in place after the Feb. 14 massacre at a South Florida high school, allows law enforcement to bring criminal charges against those who make written threats to conduct mass shootings or an act of terrorism, authorities said.
Officials with the Sheriff's Office said authorities did all they could at that time.
"It is our conclusion that all the law enforcement agencies involved worked collaboratively in investigating this matter and took the appropriate actions under the law that existed at that point in time," Marion County Sheriff's Office officials said.
On April 20, 2018, officials said Bouche, 19, shot a 17-year-old student at a Marion County high school, prompting a massive police response 19 years to the day after the mass shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado.
Bouche is currently being held in the Marion County Jail and is set to appear in court again May 22.