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Bullet Hits School Portable With Special Needs Children

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) --  A fourth grader inside a Coconut Grove school classroom when a bullet hit one of its walls says he's scared and has a message for the shooter.

Ten year old Tavares was inside the portable classroom at Frances S. Tucker Elementary school when it was struck by a stray bullet Thursday morning.

"What would you like to say to the people who did this? Shooting is not good," said Tavares.

"What did it sound like," asked CBS4's Peter D'Oench.

"Fireworks. But it wasn't," said Tavares.

"What we're you thinking when this happened," asked D'Oench.

"I hoped nobody would get hurt," said Tavares.

His worried grandmother Donna Clarit who has custody of Tavares rushed to the school.

"He has chronic sickle cell. That means he panics when there is no oxygen to his brain," said Clarit. "I need to know if my grand baby is alright."

She also had a message for the shooter.

"These children didn't do anything. They didn't do anything. They are babies. Whoever did it needs to man up to it," said Clarit.

Miami-Dade Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho visited the school shortly after the shooting.

"It's really sad when you refer to two drive-by shootings as two miracles in two days," said Carvalho.

Police said other students with disabilities and a teacher were also inside at the time.

"Today, a couple of blocks away from the school, nothing dealing with the school itself, two blocks away from Tucker Elementary, at least five shots were fired and two hit the one portable classroom at Tucker. One bullet actually penetrated the classroom," said Carvalho.

The bullet almost hit four students but no one was injured, according to Miami-Dade Schools Police Chief Ian Moffett.

"Glass is shattered. The bullet went through the glass and hit the opposite wall and went on the floor a foot away from a child," said Carvalho. "When chance and luck are a child's best friend in this community something is broken."

Carvalho called on the community to help break the code of silence to stop the violence.

"If this community does not rise up and speak up against the code of silence that's threatening or killing our kids, this is not going to stop," said Carvalho. "Bullets have no place in our community. Bullets certainly have no place in our classrooms."

He said over the past 12 months, Carvalho said 60 kids have been shot with over 20 of those ending in death.

All this just a day after a similar shooting  at Miami Carol City Senior High at 3301 Miami Gardens Drive.

The shooting happened just as school was letting out Wednesday afternoon. No one was injured in the shooting.

Related: Arrest Made As Police Expand Search In High School Shooting

Police have named a five people wanted in the shooting and arrested another person in connection to it.

An investigation is underway into Thursday's shooting.

"We don't know what the nature of this was. We don't know if the school was the intended target," said Sgt. Freddie Cruz with Miami Police.

Anyone with information is asked to call Miami-Dade Crimestoppers at (305) 471- TIPS.

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