A 15-year-old freshman shot himself in the head in a Lecanto High School classroom Tuesday morning.

According to Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy, the unidentified boy suffered the self-inflicted gunshot wound in an English class with about 20 other students in the room.

There were no other injuries.

The school was placed on lockdown at about 10 a.m. while emergency officials responded.



The boy was taken to a Tampa-area hospital in critical but stable condition. Officials recovered a semi-automatic 9 mm pistol in the classroom.



"By the grace of God, even though we had a horrific event, only one individual was injured today," Dawsy said.



The lockdown was lifted by the early part of the afternoon as worried parents came to the campus to pick up their children.



Dawsy said a school resource officer was able to talk to the student before he was transported. He also assessed it as an isolated event with no other gunmen and that no other students were in danger.

The student was "alert and cognizant of what was going on," Dawsy said.

Dawsy says the investigation is still fresh, and investigators are not sure why the student wanted to kill himself. He also said the lockdown and safety precautions went as planned, but a gun showing up on campus is a big concern.

"If I had an answer for you as to how I could keep guns off campus, I'd be sharing it with a lot of people," he said. "I don't have the answer at this particular time."

Lecanto High students will not be in class Wednesday as the county has a holiday for Veterans Day. Classes will resume Thursday.

Counselors spoke with the students in the classroom Tuesday and will be made available for any students or faculty for the rest of the week, a school official said.

Text of reverse 911 call sent to school district

"Approximately 10:30 this morning, the Citrus County School District received a call that there was a self- inflicted gunshot by a student at Lecanto High School. The Sheriff’s Office responded immediately and appropriate administrative district staff responded to LHS.

"An immediate full lockdown of all schools at the Lecanto complex occurred until the sheriff’s office determined there was no further danger to any students or staff. This was an isolated incident and there are no students or staff in danger at this time.

"The sheriff’s office is conducting it’s investigation and information will be released as it becomes available. Until the sheriff’s office has completed a full safety inspection of the Lecanto complex, no students will be released. Thank you for your cooperation."

