Two Miami-Dade schools hit by stray bullets; no serious injuries

In less than 24 hours, two schools in Miami-Dade County were hit by stray bullets.

School and police officials say it’s fortunate that no one was seriously hurt in either shooting.

“Two miracles over the past two days,” said Superintendent Alberto Carvalho. “Catastrophic loss was by chance, by luck avoided.”

On Thursday morning, a shooting two blocks away from Francis S. Tucker Elementary in Coconut Grove sent a bullet into a portable classroom where disabled students were with their teacher, police said.

On Wednesday afternoon, shots were fired in front of Carol City High in Miami Gardens shortly after school ended. A bullet sailed through an office window, school officials said.

“I am worried,” said Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Ian Moffett. “We are lucky today. We were lucky yesterday.”

Police arrested 18-year old Cedric Admas in connection with Wednesday’s shooting. Admas is an Opa-locka gang member, according to an arrest report, and not a student at Carol City. Admas is accused of stepping out of a car near the school and shooting at someone who he thought was a rival gang member. Someone was shot in the hand, according to police records.

Cops are still looking for 19-year old Stanley Ragin, who they say was seen running from the shooting while holding a gun. Ragin has a “violent history” and is a known gang member, according to police.

In Thursday’s shooting, a bullet cut through a classroom at Tucker, bounced off an inside wall and landed near four children, according to Moffett. The chief credited a “higher power” with the fact that no one was hurt.

Carvalho said students at the school were sent scrambling under their desks and teachers were crying.

“That shouldn’t happen inside an elementary school,” he said.

Miami Commissioner Ken Russell, who represents Coconut Grove, left a city commission meeting Thursday to visit the school. The bullet “went right through a lesson, a piece of paper. It was a math lesson, how to assess a problem," Russell said.

Police didn’t release any information about who may be responsible for Thursday’s shooting, which is only the latest in a spate of gunfire near Tucker. There were at least eight shootings in the area during the previous school year – including one nighttime shooting that left a man dead right under the Tucker marquee.

Miami police spokesman Freddie Cruz said the city is working with school board police to solve the most recent crime.

“This is clearly disturbing to us,” Cruz said. “At any given moment we could have been investigating a homicide. Innocent children, their lives were at risk.”

Miami Herald reporters David Smiley and Charles Rabin contributed to this report.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/coconut-grove/article59744706.html#storylink=cpy

This bulletin will be updated as more information becomes available.

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 9:58 AM with the headline "Two Miami-Dade schools hit by stray bullets; no serious injuries."