Tia Ford, a spokeswoman for Duval County Public Schools says the shootings occurred Thursday afternoon on the west side of Jacksonville, about 140 miles from Orlando. Jacksonville, Florida is the largest city in the sunshine state, with an estimated population of 842,583 people.
Ford said the gunshots came from the street and entered the school bus, striking two students at 118th Street and Blanding Boulevard. The extent of their injuries and the grade levels of the students is not known at this time.
The grandmother of one of the students, 15-year-old Shakayla Singleton, told First Coast News she was shot in the face on the school bus. Shakayla is alive, but her condition is unknown, according to the Florida Times Union.
School bus number 915 serves three alternative schools, James Weldon Johnson Academic and Career Training Center, Grand Park Center, Mattie V. Rutherford Alternative Center, according to Ford. She could not confirm which centers the children attended. Two schools are middle schools and one is a high school.
There is a heavy police presence at the scene with police tape around the area of the empty school bus. There is another school bus, half-filled with children sitting outside the police taped barricade. Reporters say it is unclear at this time if this bus was involved or whether it was dispatched to the scene to transfer the children.
