Jared Forsyth

OCALA, Fla.––A 33-year-old Ocala Police Department officer was accidentally shot and killed by a fellow officer following an April 6 firearms training.

Jared Forsyth and the second officer were unloading their weapons when the semi-automatic gun of the second officer accidently fired. The bullet ricocheted off a bench and entered through Forsyth’s arm and continued behind his bulletproof vest. He was rushed to the hospital and died on the operating table.

It’s like losing a member of the family,” said Ocala Police Chief Greg Graham.

Following the shooting Ocala Police Chaplain Edwin Quintana asked Larry Coppock, executive director the non-denominational Strength for Service organization, for 150 copies of Strength for Service to God and Country in order to provide comfort and strength to grieving officers.

“It has devastated the whole department - in particular Police Chief Graham and Mayor Kent Guinn,” said Quintana. “The last officer shot in the line of duty for Ocala Police Department was 60 years ago.”

Coppock rushed the 150 requested books to Ocala.