Seminole High teen ‘resting well’ after being shot on campus

Orlando Sentinel | By Leslie Postal | January 20, 2022

The Seminole High School student shot and injured on campus Wednesday underwent surgery and was “resting well” later that night, according to his grandmother’s Facebook post.

Jhavon McIntyre, 18, suffered three gunshot wounds in the midday shooting that locked down the Sanford school for several hours and frightened students and parents.

The 16-year-old student suspected of shooting McIntyre fled on foot but was taken into custody a few miles away a short time later, the Sanford Police Department said.

Police did not identify the victim, but on Facebook Joyce Riggins-Baker shared McIntyre’s name and a photo of him playing for Seminole High’s football team, asking for prayers for her wounded grandson.

A school source confirmed his identity to the Orlando Sentinel and a Seminole High coach on Twitter tagged McIntyre, shared a photo of him and wrote, “Glad you’re ok baby boy. You’re a true warrior.”

The Facebook posts by McIntyre’s grandmother were shared widely and prompted nearly 1,000 comments, most from people offering prayers for the teenager’s recovery.

“It is only by the Grace of God my Grandson survived this horrendous ordeal,” Riggins-Baker wrote in her second Facebook post about the shooting. “I still do not have the answers of what really happened,” she added, wondering “was a gun necessary” and hoping the family would get more answers soon.

“There are two families with broken hearts, please keep us in your prayers,” she wrote.

Sanford police publiclyidentified the suspect but the Sentinel is not naming himbecause it does not identify juvenile suspects unless they are charged as adults. The 16-year-old is currently facing four charges in juvenile court: attempted first-degree murder, possessing a weapon on school property, firing a gun on school property and interfering with school administration.

The suspect appeared in court Thursday morning and Circuit Judge John Galluzzo ordered him held in custody for 30 days, the maximum allowed for a juvenile suspect facing those charges. He also set an arraignment for Feb. 14.

The suspect’s parents were in the courtroom for the hearing, and the judge said they’d need to find an alternative schooling arrangement for their son when he’s released from custody. ”You won’t be returning to Seminole High School, I can tell you that,” Galluzzo told the teenager.

According to police, the suspect shot McIntyre in what is called the Tomahawk building, or building 14. SPD Chief Cecil Smith said 9 mm bulletcasings were found near the buildingand a gun waslater found in bushes near the school’s tennis courts.

The suspect told police he and the victim “had an issue” about a week ago, according to his arrest report, with the victim accusing the suspect of mocking a dead relative. The suspect said he did not do that and said the victim had taunted him.

The police chief said the conflict might have been over a girl but the report did not indicate that, though it said one of the teenagers’ girlfriends was a witness to their disagreement.

Key details about Wednesday’s shooting were blacked out on the arrest report, but the suspect told police a conversation with a third person prompted him to hide in an upstairs bathroom. The victim entered the bathroom and “confronted him,” the report said, but the suspect “could not advise what was said in this conversation.”

What happened next was blacked out of the report, but the suspect then fled toward the school’s tennis courts, the report said. He was arrested on Historic Goldsboro Boulevard, at an address that is about two miles from the campus.

Jeff Weiner and Cristóbal Reyes of the Sentinel staff contributed to this story.