JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A 22-year-old man was arrested Thursday night after shooting a student leaving the Deerwood campus of Florida State College at Jacksonville, police said.
Maxwell Martin is charged with two counts of attempted murder and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
About 9 p.m., the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office was called to the intersection of Baymeadows Road and Southside Boulevard.
Two students were leaving the building and getting into a car when they noticed a man, later identified as Martin, between the railings and bushes walking toward them with a "grimacing look," JSO Lt. Larry Kitchen said.
Once in the car, they saw Martin walk around the vehicle with a gun in his hand before he fired a shot toward the back of the vehicle, police said.
Mirlene Oliveira, 28, was driving and sped out of the parking lot. Her friend, 18-year-old Jose Yanes, was in the passenger seat and was hit in the left arm by a bullet, police said. The injury was not life-threatening.
Oliveira said she'd never seen Martin before the shooting.
Martin left the scene, but was later caught several blocks away at Auburn Glen Apartments, police said.
Oliveira positively identified him as the shooter, police said, and a handgun was found inside his apartment.
Martin is being held at the Duval County Jail on a $1.5 million bond, according to jail records. He will be arraigned June 9.
FSCJ released a statement Friday about the incident:
"We are deeply concerned about the incident that occurred at our Open Campus/ Deerwood Center last evening. We take this tragic event very seriously, given we hold the safety and security of our students and employees as our No. 1 priority. We learned of a shooting and possible suspect in the area near our campus about 8:50 p.m. when the off-duty JSO officer working for FSCJ on campus notified our security team. Our security team took immediate action to ensure the safety of our students and faculty who were still in classes on campus. Following our emergency protocol, the campus was placed on total lockdown. We will continue to work diligently with JSO throughout the investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and we stand ready to assist them in any manner we can. We want to assure you, our students, faculty, staff and the community that we are doing everything possible to protect the safety of the FSCJ community."