JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Newly released video shows how a school bus driver responded in May 2015 when a Jacksonville teen opened fire at a Duval County school bus, injuring two students.
Edgar Robles, 17, pleaded guilty two months ago to two counts of attempted second-degree murder and one count of shooting or throwing deadly missiles. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the attempted murder charges and 15 years for shooting a deadly missile. The sentences will run concurrently, and he must serve a minimum mandatory of 25 years.
He must also serve two years of community control and three years of probation, which will begin after his 30-year sentence.
Surveillance video released Monday shows the driver’s reaction on the bus as the shots were fired on 118th Street on the Westside. News4Jax requested the evidence that was used in the case against Robles from the State Attorney’s Office.
The bus was dropping students off when Robles got angry at a few teens on the bus and started shooting.
He didn’t hit them, but instead hit two girls. Amaya Sherman was shot in the back of her head, and Shakayla Singleton was shot through the face.
One of the bullets was just inches from striking Singleton in the brain. Instead, the bullet went through both of her cheeks.
The girls have recovered from their injuries.
Investigators believe Robles had planned a fight at the bus stop, and when he showed up and started yelling at teens to get off the bus, someone opened a window and spat on him.
PHOTOS: Evidence photos in school bus shooting
Police said that's when Robles pulled a gun and fired into the bus, which was taking 30 students home from three alternative middle and high schools.
In the video from the bus, the shots are heard and then the driver reacts. About 30 seconds later, a student calls 911, and a bus aide urges the students to get down.
As the bus driver drives the students to safety, he gives information to the student who is on the phone with 911 to help police find their location.
As they're driving away, the bus aide checks on the students, and once they stop in a safe place, the bus driver helps as they wait for police to come.
Some parents called the driver and the aide heroes for keeping calm and helping the students.
Robles, who was prosecuted as an adult, ran away from the scene before police arrived, but he was arrested during a traffic stop in Liberty County, Georgia -- about 30 miles south of Savannah.
Authorities said he was treated for a self-inflicted gunshot wound, then locked up in a juvenile facility in Georgia until he was returned to Jacksonville to face the charges.
He could have faced up to life in prison.