Published on April 16, 2024 at 11:32 am
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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is investigating a gun battle that led to a stray bullet hitting a school bus carrying children on Dr. Roy Baker Street near UF Health Jacksonville in the Hogan’s Creek area on Monday.
News4Jax reported that tempers erupted among parents and neighbors and they requested anonymity for fear of becoming a target of gun violence for speaking out.
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“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.
Th Sheriff’s Office 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.
“I heard gunshots. They were close. A lot of yelling and screaming and people running everywhere,” a witness said. “I was hiding because I was scared for myself. Those bullets could have gone anywhere.”
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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. Police said the bus was not targeted.
“I was actually down the stairs before the bus was turning in, but I ran back inside before they started shooting,” the mother of a child who was on the bus said. “[I wanted] to make sure she was okay and that’s when the bus pulled up and she told me she got shot at.”
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 Sheriff’s Office 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.
“It’s very frustrating because at the end of the day, we’ve called the law enforcement officers out here, over and over, and over, and over again,” a neighbor said.
Jacksonville Fire and Rescue was called to the scene, but there were no one was transported. Investigators said there were about 30 students on the bus and all were safely reunited with their parents.
The Sheriff’s Office said no one is in custody and they are still investigating. Anyone with information about the incident is urged to call the department’s nonemergency number at 904-630-0500 or CrimeStoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS (8477).
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.
This story was produced by News4Jax, a Jacksonville Today news partner.
