Extra patrols at West Palm school after shooting nearby

WEST PALM BEACH — Extra police officers were on patrol near Pleasant City Elementary School Thursday, the day after a man was shot near the school during Wednesday’s dismissal.

The patrols were there for the start of Thursday’s school day and returned when school was dismissed shortly after 2:30 p.m., West Palm Beach police said. They stressed that the extra officers were only a precaution.

Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, a man was shot in the 500 block of 21st Street, west of the school’s campus, and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Authorities said he is not cooperating with their investigation.

A woman, who asked not to be named due to fear of retaliation, said she was in a car driving toward the school when: “We hear, ‘Pow,’ then ‘Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. ... We were driving into it.”

Another woman in the car, who asked only to be identified by her first name, Mina, said she heard about 10 shots. The women stayed with the bleeding man while they waited for rescue crews to arrive. They said he was shot in the leg.

The shots were fired as students were being dismissed, the school district said. Authorities do not believe the suspects entered school grounds.

“We were able to get all students back inside safely while police investigated the incident,” Principal Valerie Jones said on a recorded robocall to parents Wednesday. Jones encouraged anyone with questions about the incident to contact the school at 561-838-5800.

Alexander McKinley, who was picking up his brothers from school that afternoon, said he was upset that children could have been easily hit by the gunfire.

“You shouldn’t have to choose if you want for a child to stay home and be safe over an education,” McKinley said.

Later that evening, police found a black Volkswagen Jetta linked to the shooting burned along Okeechobee Boulevard, just west of Interstate 95. Police have not said how the car ended up there or whether they believe someone set fire to it.

As of Thursday, no one has been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call West Palm Beach police at 561-822-1900 or Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 800-458TIPS (8477).