Police officer shoots man after Suncoast High parking lot confrontation; FDLE investigates
RIVIERA BEACH — A Riviera Beach police officer shot a man twice in the leg during a confrontation in the parking lot at Suncoast High School on Monday that forced the school into lockdown for a majority of the day, according to the School District of Palm Beach County.
Authorities named neither the wounded man nor the Riviera Beach police officer who shot him. The man remained hospitalized in stable condition Monday afternoon, the district and Riviera Beach police said. He is expected to face criminal charges.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting at the request of Riviera Beach police. The state agency often takes over investigations in cases where a law enforcement officer shoots someone.
FDLE declined to release further details Monday, citing the open investigation.
In an email to parents Monday afternoon, Suncoast principal Kathryn Koerner said school counselors and a therapy dog would be available Monday and Tuesday for students and staff to help process the incident.
"I am very proud of the composure our students and staff displayed during the police incident on our campus this morning," she wrote. "Thank you to our students, administrators, teachers and staff who acted quickly and calmly to secure our campus. I’m also grateful for the patience of our parents while we conduct a secured dismissal process through the end of the day."
Schools: School board votes to suspend bus driver, aide for throwing water bottle at car from bus
Incident took place during morning drop-off; no students, staff involved
According to school district statement released Monday afternoon, the situation began prior to the start of school when the man walked onto a campus parking lot when he was not authorized to do so.
When approached by a police officer on campus about why he was there, the man became combative and made physical contact with the officer.
"The officer then discharged their weapon, and the individual was shot twice," the school district reported.
Medics took both the officer and the wounded man to a hospital for care. Doctors released the officer shortly afterward.
The school was placed on immediate lockdown and then transitioned to allow limited movement on campus, the school district said. No students were harmed during the incident, and police stressed that there was no danger to the public.
School calendar: Palm Beach County schools release schedule for 2024-25 school year
Suncoast administrators sent an email to parents about 8:30 a.m., saying they were allowed to pick up their students and take them home for the rest of the day.
Officers from the school district police, Riviera Beach police, FDLE and the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office responded after reports of the shooting surfaced about 7:30 a.m.
Aerial footage from the scene captured by The Palm Beach Post showed what appeared to be clothing and shoes strewn across Jake Lane on the campus' southwest corner. Police had placed yellow evidence markers near the items and sectioned off the area with red and yellow caution tape.
School board member praises Suncoast leaders' handling of incident
School board member Erica Whitfield's daughter, Noelle, was running late to school with two friends when they arrived at the school's parking lot about 10 minutes before the start of the school day at 7:30 a.m.
The trio had not left their car yet when the school was placed on lockdown. Whitfield received a panicked call from her daughter, who said she'd heard a gunshot from her place in the parking lot.
The 16-year-old and her friends drove out of the parking lot on the advice of her mother. All three teens are safe.
Whitfield said the school was allowing parents to pick up their children from the campus but also ran a normal bus schedule in case students needed to stay on campus throughout the day. Suncoast is a magnet school, meaning that students from across the county attend classes there and may live as far away as Jupiter, Wellington or Boca Raton.
Whitfield didn't yet have all the information the shooting Monday morning but said school leadership acted appropriately from her point of view as a parent and a school board member.
"The school locked down immediately — that is something to be proud of," she said. "It’s a really unfortunate time of day because kids are coming in and people are driving through. I'm grateful that no children were hurt."
Nearby school campuses, including Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Elementary, Lincoln Elementary, Washington Elementary, and John F. Kennedy Middle School, were partially locked down following the incident.
Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering education at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at jwhigham@pbpost.com. Hannah Phillips is a journalist covering public safety and criminal justice at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at hphillips@pbpost.com.
Help support our work; subscribe today!
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Police investigating Suncoast High incident, say no students in danger
