'I'm so sorry' says Ocala hospital shooting suspect

OCALA, Fla. (WOGX FOX 51) - Jason Gignac is accused of shooting a nurse at West Marion Community Hospital while being detained by the Florida Highway Patrol. He gave his first interviews from the Marion County Jail.

“I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry for her and her family!” Gignac said, referring to the nurse, “I can't even express how much I'm sorry! That wasn't my intention to shoot her! It wasn't! I'm so sorry this happened!”

Sitting across the table in his prison jumpsuit, Gignac said he remembers walking up I-75, and where he was headed at the time.

“That's all I wanted to do was get back home,” Gignac said, “I didn't have shoes on. I was walking down I-75 with no shoes!”

He remembers being taken to West Marion Community Hospital for treatment. But he says he was high on drugs, and very paranoid.

“I thought I heard them saying they were going to hurt me or kill me,” Gignac recalled.

Gignac said that's when it all happened. “I was handcuffed to the bed, they un-cuffed one of my hands, and I thought I saw an officer reaching for his gun. I grabbed his hand. That's when we started tussling and I heard the gun go off - then I was on the ground. That's all I remember.”

At the time Gignac, didn't know that the bullet hit a nurse in the leg. “I'm sorry about that nurse! I'm so sorry for her and her family! I am, truly!”

Gignac says he's been using drugs for as long as he can remember. He's been trying to stay clean for his own sake - and the sake of his family. “This just ain't who I am. I'm not a violent person. I love my kids - you can ask any of my kids they all love me!”

The nurse is in stable condition and expected to make a full recovery. Gignac says he just wants to turn his life around - he recently learned that he'll soon be a grandfather.