Bullets shattered school window, 9-1-1 call reveals

Authorities have released photographic evidence of a tree with two bullet holes which they claim came from shots fired by 63-year-old Robert Nodine at High Springs Community School last Wednesday.

More facts have come to light in the High Springs Community School shooting which rocked the area last Wednesday.

Police now say not only was 63-year-old Robert Nodine armed, but he also fired several shots from a handgun before being taken down by gunfire from law enforcement.  High Springs Police Chief James Troiano released photographic evidence depicting a tree with two bullet holes from the shots fired by Nodine.

Two 9-1-1 audio recordings released by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office provide a chilling moment-by-moment account of events as one of the school’s staffers experienced them.

The caller, whose identity is not being released, said he was in one of six rooms inside Building 3, which houses Student Services.

Perhaps the most disturbing information revealed in the recordings is that shots fired by someone in the gunfire exchange shattered at least one of the windows in the Behavioral Resources office.

“I am in an office.  I have been instructed to take cover,” he said.

The seemingly calm and collected caller told the 9-1-1 operator that Nodine’s daughter and her youngest child were in the same room.

“She is extremely distraught…And she doesn’t know what’s going on, but her husband was outside at the time the shots were fired,” the caller said of the mother and child.

Throughout nearly all of the 25 minutes of audio, the caller remains uncertain as to whether or not the purportedly armed man was still on the loose.  Meanwhile, he and everyone else in the room were said to be lying on the floor as they waited for any information on Nodine’s whereabouts and the safety of the school.

Near the end of the call, one of the concerned school staffers in the room wanted to leave to check on the safety of her own child.  Minutes later, the 9-1-1 operator delivered a sigh of relief when she told the caller that all of the children were safe and none were injured.

In describing Nodine, the caller said he was wearing a tee-shirt with a plaid over shirt, jeans and a hat.  He also said the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) had been conducting an investigation and instructed the school not to release Nodine’s two grandchildren.  He also added that DCF had not yet arrived at the school to deal with matters related to that investigation.

It is not clear if DCF routinely requests schools to hold children who are party to investigations conducted by the agency.

Responding to the scene when the call came in around 12:51 on May 18 were both Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) deputies and High Springs Police Department (HSPD) officers.

Police say Nodine became irate while at the school, and while being escorted off the campus the grandfather was reportedly able to arm himself.

“We do know he challenged a deputy sheriff and a police officer,” said Troiano.

The incident escalated and police opened fire on Nodine, he said.  It’s not clear how many shots were fired and if both the deputy and the High Springs police officer fired their weapons.  Only Nodine was injured as a result of the incident, Troiano said.

The shooting reportedly occurred in an area described by Troiano as a “breezeway into the old elementary school office.”

The number of shots fired had not been released, but Troiano referred to the weapon allegedly wielded by Nodine as a handgun.

The school was in lockdown for much of Wednesday afternoon as deputies restricted access to and from school grounds.

Most of the school’s children had already been released because of an abbreviated Wednesday schedule.  School Board of Alachua County spokesperson Jackie Johnson said some 150 to 175 students remained on campus for after school activities when the shooting occurred.

It was originally reported that none of the students were believed to have been directly exposed to the incident, but the 9-1-1 calls seems to call that accounting of events into question.  Johnson said several school staffers may have seen the altercation, including the shooting.

Nodine was taken to an area hospital for treatment of his injuries.  Troiano said Nodine has some criminal history including resisting arrest.  He remains in the hospital recovering from injuries resulting from the reported gunfire exchange.  ACSO Public Information Officer Art Forgey reported that Nodine has not been charged yet and would not be transferred to the jail until he is cleared by medical doctors to leave the hospital.

Troiano said the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) is still conducting its investigation into the shooting including a criminal investigation and a review of the officers’ actions.

The HSPD officer involved in the incident was released to return to full duty Tuesday, he said.

Commenting on the response to the school emergency, Troiano said, “I felt everyone did an outstanding job.  From the officers, dispatchers, school officials, kids’ parents, and so on.”

“Team work definitely made a difference, and our school is safer because of our close relationships,” he said.