It always seemed like it could never happen here. But it almost did.
Thanks to a school resource officer at The Villages Charter School, a Columbine-style attack being planned by a pair of students was foiled.
There were warning signs.
Zachary Shearon, 13, had attended a Holocaust tribute and showed up with Swastikas on his hands and Nazi logos on his arms. Shearon also posted on his Instagram account a photo of the Columbine school shooters with the caption, “The Columbine Basketball Team has not been the same since since it lost its two best shooters.”
A student reportedly heard Shearon telling other students to wear a white shirt on the day of the planned attack and to use the code word, “Eugene”, to avoid being shot. That student tipped off the school resource officer.
In an interview with the principal, Shearon said he had been dealing with “bad depression” and he was having thoughts of ending it all.
When investigators showed up at the Shearon home in Fruitland Park, they found drugs which belonged to his mother, resulting in her arrest.
Ultimately, Zachary Shearon was able to avoid jail time in the case.