A man wearing only a dark blue shirt and grey underwear, with no pants, and armed with a pocket knife led Columbia County deputies on a woods search Wednesday morning after fleeing into dense terrain off Southwest Herlong Street near Fort White. The search, triggered by reports that the man was experiencing a change in mental status, prompted deputies to reroute school buses away from the area before the suspect was located and arrested just after 9:15 a.m.
According to the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, deputies initially responded to an incident on Southwest Herlong Street, in the stretch between Southwest Choctaw Avenue and Southwest Tustenuggee Avenue. The male suspect fled eastbound into the woods on Herlong toward Southwest Old Wire Road, and a K-9 and drone team joined the search for him while it was still ongoing. The sheriff's office urged anyone who spotted the man to call 911 immediately and warned residents not to approach him themselves.
Buses Rerouted Away From the Search Zone
As deputies combed the woods, the Columbia County Schools transportation office coordinated directly with law enforcement to protect students on their way to class, per the sheriff's office. School bus routes along Herlong were escorted by law enforcement through the area, and other routes nearby were rerouted around the search zone entirely. First Coast News reported that the emergency call described the suspect's sudden change in mental status and lack of pants as deputies scrambled to secure the perimeter, according to First Coast News.
News4JAX detailed how the joint response unfolded on the ground, noting that the sheriff's office worked hand-in-hand with the school district's transportation office to escort morning buses passing through the perimeter, as reported by News4JAX. That kind of real-time coordination between deputies and school resource staff is standard practice for the district, whose transportation protocols call for direct communication with law enforcement to adjust routes whenever a localized police action threatens student safety.
Suspect Located and Arrested Within Hours
By approximately 9:15 a.m. Wednesday, Columbia County sheriff's officials confirmed that law enforcement had located and arrested the suspect, resolving the search and lifting the bus escorts without further disruption to the area. The rapid resolution capped off a morning that briefly disrupted school transportation across a rural stretch of southern Columbia County.
Southwest Herlong Street is a two-lane rural collector road near Fort White and Lake City that intersects Southwest Tustenuggee Avenue close to residential communities including the Meadowlands subdivision, according to North Florida Professional Services. That rural, wooded character gave the fleeing man ample cover and shaped how deputies structured their perimeter and search pattern.
Mental Health Crisis Raises Baker Act Questions
Because the suspect was reported to be experiencing a change in mental status, Florida's Baker Act, codified at F.S. § 394.463, gives law enforcement officers the authority to take a person into involuntary protective custody for emergency psychiatric examination when that person appears to have a mental illness and poses a real and present danger to themselves or others, per the Florida Senate. That statute could shape what happens to the man going forward, though it remains an open question whether he will face formal criminal charges tied to the pocket knife or fleeing, in addition to or instead of a psychiatric evaluation. It is also unclear whether the man was previously known to local authorities or mental health providers.
The manhunt came just days after the sheriff's office issued a public reminder, four weeks into the new school year, that Florida law requires drivers in both directions to stop for school buses with extended stop arms on undivided two-lane roads. That warning underscored how closely the agency has been watching bus safety this fall, even before Wednesday's search forced an actual mid-route reroute.
Agency Context Amid Staffing Push
Sheriff Wallace Kitchings, who took over the Columbia County Sheriff's Office in January 2025 after winning election the previous August, brings more than 30 years of experience with the agency, including stints as SWAT Commander and Chief Deputy, according to the Florida Sheriffs Association. In August, Kitchings asked the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners for a 5% budget increase specifically earmarked for recruiting, training, and retaining deputies, the Lake City Reporter reported. Historical Florida Department of Law Enforcement data cited by the sheriff's office has shown Columbia County agencies maintaining case clearance rates around 34.6%, well above the statewide average of roughly 23%.
