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Student wounded in Miramar bus shooting ID'd; 2 schools locked down
By ANDREW RYAN & LOU TOMAN
sun-sentinel.com
November 15, 2005, 11:10 AM EST
MIRAMAR – A student was shot in the chest aboard a school bus Tuesday morning and police are searching for a teenage girl reported to be armed with a gun.
Officials locked down two nearby schools – Perry Elementary and Perry Middle – on the possibility the armed teen could be headed to that area.
Around 11 a.m., police identified the wounded girl as Kaliesha Cheatam, 17, of Hollywood.
The shooting occurred around 7:20 a.m. on a southbound school bus near Southwest 38 Street and between Rose and Woodscape drives, which is located east of Florida's Turnpike. Police said two students, both teenage girls, had argued and fought a day earlier and said the spat escalated on Tuesday. It was not immediately known what the two were arguing over.
But police said the unidentified 17-year-old girl carried a handgun on to the school bus Tuesday morning and waited until the victim boarded at another stop. They apparently argued again and then at least one shot was fied at Cheatam. The shooter then fled.
"Apparently once the victim got on the school bus this morning, there was another confrontation between the victim and the suspect. The suspect pulled out a firearm and shot the victim once in the upper torso," Officer Bill Robertson said at a press conference.
When the shooting occurred, the bus was carrying 30 students and headed to Parkway Academy, a charter school that enrolls more than 500 students in grades 9 thru 12 at its site on the 7400 block of Riviera Boulevard in Miramar.
The driver of the bus, which is operated by A1A Transportation, used his two-way radio to summon police.
The wounded girl, reported to be 17 years old, was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood with a gunshot to the upper left part of her chest.
The victim was alert and conscious while she was brought to the hospital, said Romeo Lavarias, a spokesman for Miramar Fire Rescue. The wound was described as non-life threatening.
No other students were reported injured.
After the shooting, police and K-9 dogs began searching a home on the 3700 block of 69 Way, also in Miramar.
Another school bus was called in to take the remaining students to classes at Parkway Academy.
The investigation continues and the hunt for the armed teen continues.
Copyright © 2005, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
