Teen boy arrested for shooting Ocala man, deputies say

MARION COUNTY, Fla. - A teen boy was arrested for shooting an adult man in Ocala on Friday, deputies say. 

What we know:

The Marion County Sheriff's Office arrested a 17-year-old boy, who they said was identified as the shooter of a man with gunshot wounds near Oak Lane and Locust Pass Trail in Ocala Nov. 14. The sheriff's office responded to the area around 5:45 a.m. finding a man in critical condition. 

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The man was transported to the hospital and is now stable, the sheriff's office reported Nov. 17. 

While investigating the shooting, the sheriff's office said a person said the boy shot the man. The reportee positively identified him in a photo lineup, deputies said. 

FOX 35 is not identifying the boy or showing his picture due to his age. 

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During an interview, the sheriff's office said the boy said he was at home at the time of the shooting, but he later "spontaneously uttered to a school employee that he ‘didn’t mean to do it’ and that his hand ‘just slipped.'"

The boy later said he went to man's porch and said the man confronted and beat him. The boy also said he ran toward the road and pulled out gun to scare the man, the sheriff's office said. The gun was shot as the boy held it behind him, deputies said. 

Detectives did not see signs of injury to corroborate the alleged battery, the sheriff's office said. 

The teen was arrested for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, armed trespassing, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He's currently at the Department of Juvenile Justice.