HONOLULU (KHON2) -- A 16-year-old teen was shot while on a city bus at around 3:30 p.m. on Friday, August 9. Honolulu police said he was struck by a bullet fired by two males who were riding on a moped.
As of Monday, HPD said the investigation continues, and wouldn't specify if the victim and suspects knew one another.
A video was recovered showing the moped circling around the bus, which was at a stop, before the suspects took off.
"I contacted OTS, and I learned of the 485 buses we have in our city fleet, all of them do have both exterior and interior cameras," Honolulu City Council Public Safety Chair Val Okimoto said.
According to Okimoto, the Friday afternoon incident was not caught on the exterior cameras of the bus. The footage from the interior cameras were given to HPD.
The Department of Transportation Services claims that the cameras are regularly maintained. However, parents are raising concerns after the Department of Education canceled a number of school bus routes due to a shortage of drivers on island, and were told public transportation could be a way to get their kid to school.
Katherine Thomas has two kids in middle school. She said she didn't receive notice about the school buses until three days before school started.
She and her husband have busy schedules and had to make adjustments because she was hesitant to have them take public transportation. After Friday's shooting, she said it was a no-brainer.
"I was shocked," Thomas said. "That was definitely one of the concerns in the back of my mind. My kids do not take public transportation regularly, so on top of having that as a potential option to put my kids on the bus, having to work with them to learn the bus schedule, now we have to fear for their safety as well? That was a stopper for me, that was not going to be an option to put my kids on the bus."
"Our students' safety and I can't stress this enough should be our number one priority," Rep. Trish La Chica said, who is vice chair of the Committee on Education.
La Chica plans to host a special hearing with the committee on education to discuss solutions for the driver shortage.
"Right now, there are areas where we're falling short, and I don't want to see our kids just be vulnerable and think their safety is at risk," she added.
She said getting kids to school safely and on time is a priority, and one many parents are concerned about.
"This is an unfortunate, isolated situation that happened at the beginning of the school year, we hope it doesn't happen again, but this is something again I would like to continue to work with HPD and OTS with, and working together so when it happens we can look at the situation and see if there are any changes that need to be made to improve public safety," said Okimoto.
Okimoto, who is a parent herself, said for the most part, taking the city bus is safe, and parents should always teach kids best safety precautions.