Update May 15, 1:35 p.m.: The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is looking for one person they believe to be the shooter in Thursday's bus incident. After speaking with witnesses, JSO has identified 16-year-old Edgar Robles as the suspect. Robles is believed to be armed and dangerous.
Two female students are in stable condition after they were shot Thursday afternoon while riding on a school bus on 118th Street on Jacksonville's Westside.
Police said the students were hit by shots fired from outside the bus by two older teenagers. The shooting happened near the intersection of 118th and Catoma streets. The driver continued about a quarter-mile to the intersection of 118th and Blanding Boulevard before calling 911.
About an hour after the shooting, police said the victims were going to survive and that their parents were with them at the hospital.
A witness said she saw one of the victims — a girl between 10 and 15 years old — being taken to a rescue unit with a neck brace on.
"A guy just walked by and shot up the bus," said the witness, who works at an insurance company in the area.
Marcus Grant told News4Jax his son was aboard the bus and was friends with one of the victims.
"He's upset right now to the point that he's talking crazy," Grant said.
Grant said his son and the other students on the bus were held on the bus to be interviewed.
Reporters near the shooting scene say parents are showing up waiting to pick up their children.
Duval County School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti is also at the scene.
Police said the victim's parents had been notified and were at the hospital.
A Duval County School District spokeswoman said bus No. 915 was carrying students from three different alternative schools: James Weldon Johnson Academic Career Training Center, Mattie V. Rutherford Alternative Education Center and Grand Park Center. Alternative schools.
Students are assigned to alternative schools when they have a major violation of the school's code of conduct — violations that range from theft or damage at school to having alcohol, drugs or firearms on campus.
Witnesses in the area said police are rerouting traffic in the area and officers are on every corner between the crime scene and Ortega Farms Boulevard.
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