JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 23-year-old woman and a 17-year-old male were charged with attempted murder following a shooting where a stray bullet hit a school bus carrying children in the Hogan’s Creek area on Monday, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
JSO said multiple individuals in a nearby apartment complex were in a verbal altercation that led to shooting firearms at each other.
Detectives collected all evidence, conducted interviews, and identified the 23-year-old woman and a 17-year-old male as persons of interest and they were arrested for attempted murder.
Tempers erupted among parents and neighbors and they requested anonymity for fear of becoming a target of gun violence for speaking out.
“A school bus. Those are kids. They shoot at each other. Come on now, that’s frustrating. We got kids. We don’t want our kids to grow up like that. I don’t care what side of town it’s on,” a neighbor said.
JSO said that as the school bus pulled into a nearby apartment complex, two individuals were exchanging gunfire and a bullet hit the front windshield of the bus.
Carole Houston was driving the bus when the incident occurred.
“I had just made it through the gate and got to the dumpster to make that back turn on the backside of it. And bullets are just flying as I approach that corner. And all I could do is jump out my seat and hit the floor and tell all the kids to hit the floor,” Houston said.
The driver was able to maneuver the bus to a nearby parking lot across the street from UF Health to get away from the gunfire.
Houston said she crawled through the bus to make sure the students were safe.
“My bus was in drive still and I just kind of crawled back up front once I got all the kids down and put it in, put the park. Bullets were still flying,” she said.
Police said the bus was not targeted.
Young Kids in Motion Academy Owner Meltonia Wright was shocked to hear what happened.
“I had a few phone calls from parents saying everybody is okay. That’s why we just decided to close school today to give them a mental break because I know yesterday was just crazy,” Wright said.
She feels this is another example of why the violence has to stop.
“Let’s buy back the guns,” Wright said. “If we can buy back these guns off the streets then they will have less to use to hurt somebody.”
Adding to the frustration among parents and neighbors is the fact that this was not the first time gun violence has erupted in this community,
According to a JSO crime map that was adjusted to only show violent crimes within 1,500 feet of Monday’s shooting, police have been called to Hogan’s Creek to investigate three separate cases of shots being fired and an assault within the last four weeks.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue was called to the scene, but there were no transports. Investigators said there were around 30 students on the bus and they were all safely reunited with their parents.
The incident did not take place on the campus of UF Health Jacksonville.
Duval County Public Schools said the bus does not belong to the district.