Armed and dangerous 16-year-old wanted for school bus shooting

A year-old dispute leads five teens to agree to a fight, and ends with one shooting in to a school bus, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

We’re told 16-year-old Edgar Robles is wanted for the shooting, and is considered armed and dangerous.

“His blatant disregard for life, and his reckless behavior with dire unintended consequences is shocking and alarming,” says JSO Director Tom Hackney.

Robles and two others had agreed to a fight with two other teens, stemming from disrespect to an Ed White teen who had died in an accident within the last year. The two other teens were on the school bus when it stopped on 118^th St. on the Westside.

“As the suspect Robles pulled a gun, his two friends who were waiting with him to fight realized that there was something more sinister with his motives,” Hackney says.

Those two fled shortly before or at the time of the shooting, according to Hackney. They are cooperating with police and are not expected to face charges.

Someone on the bus- police aren’t sure who- spit out of the bus and hit Robles, and that appears to have sparked his anger. JSO says, at that time, he fired five shots at the bus. Two 16-year-old girls, who were not the intended targets, were hit- one bullet went through one of the girl’s cheeks and out of the other, one bullet hit the other girl in the back of the head, one bullet hit the bus, and two are still unaccounted for.

The victims are expected to survive.

“If you can say thankfully to anything, thankfully this was a very small caliber handgun, of the .380 caliber nature. Probably the only reason that we don’t have two dead 16-year-old girls,” Hackney says.

While JSO says they have evidence Robles tried to get rid of the gun, they have no proof that he has, so the teen is still considered armed and dangerous. His mother is cooperating with the investigation, but says Robles doesn’t tend to be home for any extended period of time, so his whereabouts are unknown. All police could say is that he tends to stay with friends or in other places around the Westside and is still believed to be in Jacksonville.

“The sooner he’s  off the streets, the sooner the citizens of Jacksonville are safe,” Hackney says.

JSO says Robles has no criminal history which can be released, but added that any misdemeanor charges against juveniles- generally speaking- would be confidential.

Robles is described as 5’6”, 140 pounds, last seen wearing silver shorts and blue Nike tennis shoes. JSO says he is of Hispanic descent, but appears African American. Neither Robles nor any of the other teens involved have known gang ties.

He has arrest warrants out for two counts of attempted murder and shooting deadly missiles.

If you have any information, you’re asked to call JSO at 904-630-0500. You can also submit an anonymous tip and be eligible for a reward by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.