CHARLOTTE — A 21-year-old man was arrested and charged after he fired shots the day before hitting a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school bus that had about 30 students onboard, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department announced on Tuesday.
Lamarius Ramel Anthony fired his gun during a fight over drugs and nearby bus No. 1748 from Albemarle Road Middle School was caught in the crossfire, police said. The bus was not the intended target, police said.
Two students were treated for injuries from shattered glass, one of which was Ja’Mya Dawkins.
“I heard like 3 shots. Me and her ducked, and I felt something wet on my eyebrow. And it started dripping down my face,” said Dawkins. “I had closed my eyes because glass had got in my eyes. I had one eye open. We were just praying and crying.”
After the incident on East W.T. Harris Boulevard, CMPD officers saw Anthony leave the area.
Channel 9′s Almiya White spoke with Eyerson Balbuena who said he was in the right place at the right time.
Balbuena works as a security guard for the school at the Albemarle Road Recreation Center and was on the clock when the CMS bus pulled into the parking lot.
“The little girl said, ‘Oh, I need help because somebody shot the bus.’ That’s when I’m running,” Balbuena explained. “I’m talking to the driver, so I tell her, ‘Can you open the door?’ When she opened the door, I took everybody off the bus.”
Anthony was taken to the Hickory Grove police station where he was arrested and charged with felony possession of cocaine carrying a concealed weapon. Anthony was later placed in the custody of the sheriff’s office.
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