‘It shook me up:’ Witnesses describe shooting at Tulsa Welding School that injured one person

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Police are looking for a man who shot his classmate inside a Jacksonville trade school. The victim is in the hospital, and a suspect is on the run.

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said officers responded to a shooting at the Tulsa Welding School of Jacksonville around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Witnesses who wanted to remain anonymous told Action News Jax they heard about a handful of gun shots go off, the school went on lockdown, and then police arrived in a matter of minutes.

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“I heard a couple of rounds, it was like ‘pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,’” one witness said. “It shook me up a little bit.”

Another witness shared a video showing police walking onto campus with their guns drawn. In the video, you could hear someone saying, “The police is up front. We saw the dude.”

You can also see the students with their hands on their heads as officers search the area.

The person in the video also said, “We was up there in the classroom, and we didn’t even know what was going on. We came out of the classroom, and they started hollering, ‘Get back in the class, get back in the class.’”

Officials said it started out as an argument among more than 10 people, then it became a fight where guns were drawn.

“We heard the shots pop off, and then a bunch of people ran in the breakroom,” a third witness said.

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This witness said he heard about eight gunshots.

“I didn’t really know what was going on, everyone was freaking out, walking everywhere trying to figure out,” the third witness said.

A JSO detective said a man in his 20s got shot in the stomach once and is expected to recover.

School president, Michael Cole, told Action News Jax there were around 200 people on campus when the shooting happened.

The school resumed classes quickly after going on lockdown for about 30 minutes.

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“Everyone appears to be safe at the moment and back to business as usual as best we can at this point,” Cole said.

One person has been arrested, but the police are still looking for a man described to be in his late 20s/early 30s, about 6′5′', and wearing a dark blue welding suit.

Your assistance is in this investigation is crucial. If you have any information related to the incident, we urge you to contact the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office via phone at 904-630-0500, go online to

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