HOMESTEAD, Fla. – Local 10's Baron James' exclusive interview with the mother of a boy who witnessed the school bus shooting that killed Lourdes Guzman.
Baron: PR's mom, tell me today when you read the paper, tell me what you thought.
Mother: Well, I was coming from work and my first reaction was shocked. For the first time, we hear a different story to what we hear, you know? And um...
READ: School bus shooting witness talks
Baron: About what really happened to Lourdes.
Mother: ...about what really happened. And I just want to make it clear that we're coming out, we've never been out. Um, I was kind of scared, you know, I'm trying to protect my child, too, and, um, we just want the truth.
Baron: Yeah. And, you, take me back to that day and when your son was taken into police custody. Did you give your permission for him to be interviewed?
Mother: No, I didn't give any permission. I was never spoken to, actually. I was in my house, um, sleeping, my son texted me, 'Mom, can you please come pick me up?' and I was like, 'No, baby, stay in school,' you know. I actually thought he was already in school, I was like half asleep. And he like, 'No, mom, I really feel bad. Please come for me' and I'm like, 'Okay, let me call my sister and see if she'll pick you up.' and then he like, 'No, mom but listen, there was an accident in the bus, please come.'
Baron: What did he tell you happened that day?
Mother: Um, he called me right away, and he told me 'Listen this girl shot herself on the bus, and I'm scared. I'm covered in blood, and I don't know, I'm scared, come for me.'
Baron: So when you heard that through the media that Jordan was the one who shot Lourdes, what did you think then?
Mother: Well, I didn't know. Um, I rushed, I was living in Miami at the time and I rushed over here to Homestead thinking that I would see my son here. When I was halfway on the bus here, I didn't get any answer from my son's phone anymore, they had taken it from him. And, uh, I called the police station. I called Homestead police, they told me that Miami-Dade was handling. I talked to, uh, a detective in Miami-Dade, he called me back, thank God, because I was worried.
Baron: How do you think police handled the interview with your son?
Mother: I don't like the way they handled it. They just took our kids, didn't say anything to us. I didn't receive a call. His dad didn't. We went to the Miami headquarters and we were there a long time. And my first question was, when they said, 'Any questions?' I said 'Yes, I want to know if my son did it.' and one of the police guys said, 'No. Don't worry. The guy came out. He gave us his gun. He said 'I did it, it was something personal. Here's the gun.''
Baron: Police told you...
Mother: ...police told me...
Baron: ...that Jordan said that.
Mother: ...that the victim, that the guy that shot the victim confessed, 'I shot her. It was something personal.'
Baron: But your son says that's not what happened.
Mother: That's what my son told me right after I took him out of headquarters. And I'm very upset. We told them that our kids didn't have any breakfast, they didn't have nothing to eat, and they told us, 'Don't worry, we have food up there. They're okay, We have therapy for them, they're eating, they're okay, don't worry.' And it was a lie. When my son came out it was probably 6 and he didn't eat. He got home and he started throwing up. He didn't eat. So right off he started telling me, 'Mom, the girl shot herself, the girl shot herself.'
Mother: And you said you had to take you son out of his school after all of this.
Mother: Yes, the next day I stayed home from my job. I stayed home to be with him. The following day, we sent him to school normal, and the school basically threw him out. They told us that 'You going to have to take your child because we want Miami-Dade to sign for you to take him.' They suspended him 10 days and it was rejected, and they still pressure me to take him. So I had to take him right off.
Baron: What did you say to your son, though, about handling this gun when you know that he should have not had anything to do with a gun at school to begin with?
Mother: Exactly, um... I know he's regretting it, because, this tragic, and -- I don't know what to say, I mean, they're kids, they think that, you know, nothing's going to happen. They don't think about what they're doing. We've talked to him a lot, and you know, I'm pretty sure that if he could go back in time, he wouldn't do it again, and, now we just got to be more careful with them. You know, don't touch it, you're not, plastic, the gun's not plastic, and it could kill somebody.
Baron: Okay, anything you want to add?
Mother: I just want to say I'm sorry for the mother, you know, I'm sorry for your loss. And for Jordan's mom, it's not fair, you know, for her to go through this either. He's innocent.