Overview
- The 17-year-old, identified as Caden Speight, was booked into the Department of Juvenile Justice on charges of presenting false evidence, shooting into a conveyance, making a false crime report, and possession of a firearm by a minor.
- The Sept. 25 texts triggered a statewide AMBER Alert and a multi-agency search in Marion and Levy counties that the sheriff described as a vast deployment of resources.
- Detectives reported a bullet hole through his truck’s windshield, suspected blood, a destroyed phone, drag marks and bicycle tracks that officials say were part of a staged scene.
- Surveillance showed pre-incident purchases of a bicycle and camping gear at Walmart, and a laptop review found ChatGPT searches about collecting his own blood and Mexican cartels, according to authorities.
- Williston police located him within 24 hours with a handgun and the bicycle, and deputies say his leg wound that shattered his femur was self-inflicted; a sheriff’s spokesperson said he has since bonded out.