Parents, students react to accidental bus shooting

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- Teddy bears, flowers and candles mark a memorial for the tragic shooting of 13-year-old student Lourdes Guzman.

Guzman rode the school bus Tuesday morning but never made it to school. The cheery 13-year-old who loved dancing, music and art was shot and killed by a fellow student.

Parents arrived at Palm Glades Preparatory Academy with fear and confusion as they came to pick up their children. "What happened, what is the problem here?" questioned one woman.

Parents arrived at the school knowing something had happened but many not sure exactly what. "My sister called me and told me something happened," said another woman.

Finally, they received the news. "They said there was a shooting and a young girl got shot and was killed," said a parent.

Faculty and staff at Palm Glades Preparatory Academy also reacted to the tragic news. "We regret to inform that we did lose a student," said Principal Minelli Duclerc. "Right now, we're grieving with the parents."

Investigators said Guzman was accidentally shot on the school bus on her way to school. It happened in front of her 7-year-old sister and seven other students.

Students who received the tragic news showed their support on Facebook.

Police took 15-year-old Jordyn Howe into custody and brought him to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Downtown Miami.

Students said they had not heard about the shooting, and the school did not make an announcement before classes were dismissed on Tuesday. "It's very shocking when you hear that a child is shot like that because it could be your child at any moment. So, we've been hearing a lot today going on, but it's terrible," said Daniel Smoorenburg.

Parents are now wondering how to begin that difficult conversation about school violence. "It's the most important thing there is for anyone, and they don't know what's going on, and I don't want them to get a misinterpretation from other people of what's going on," said a parent. "I'd rather tell them myself. And have everything more like a father/child basis."

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