‘Kind and joyful’ high school tennis player killed in double shooting, Florida cops say

A 17-year-old high school junior and tennis player was killed in a double shooting that injured one other person, according to a Florida sheriff’s office and the school.

The student, Isabella Angelina Scavelli, was fatally shot in South Brooksville at around 11:30 p.m. on Feb. 7, according to the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies found two people with gunshot wounds, and the suspect had fled the area, the sheriff’s office said.

Both victims were taken to hospitals, and the area of the road where the shooting occurred was closed, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office announced just before 11 a.m. on Feb. 8 that one of the victims, whom they identified as a student at Hernando High School, had died of her injuries. The agency did not identify the second person who was injured in the shooting.

A spokesperson for Hernando High School identified the student as Scavelli, who played tennis and was part of the school’s student government.

“This morning, Hernando High is a campus is mourning,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “... She is described by her teachers as an energetic, kind and a joyful student.”

Grief counselors and therapy dogs will be available for students and staff on campus for as long as they are needed, according to the spokesperson.

Gun violence became the leading cause of death in 2020 for people under the age of 25, according to a report released in April 2022 by Johns Hopkins University researchers who analyzed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 10,000 people in this age group died from firearms in 2020, the report says.

The Hernando County Sheriff’s Office has not announced any arrests in the double shooting.

Brooksville is about 75 miles west of Orlando. Hernando High School serves grades 6-12 and enrolls 1,093 students, according to U.S. News and World Report.

This story was originally published February 8, 2023 at 6:10 PM with the headline "‘Kind and joyful’ high school tennis player killed in double shooting, Florida cops say."