FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Police on Friday identified Jamal Meyers, 34, as the man arrested in Thursday’s bus shooting that killed two in Fort Lauderdale.
Detectives say Meyers shot four people on a county bus Thursday afternoon. Two of the victims died.
Records show Meyers has an extensive criminal record with more than 20 arrests, including charges related to drug possession and domestic violence.
He had been most recently arrested in 2019 on several felony charges, including burglary and drug charges. He was serving probation on those charges. That probation came despite Meyers being flagged in 2018 as a habitual offender.
Meyers was supposed to make his first court appearance Friday morning to hear his charges and have his bond set, but an attorney appeared on his behalf and said that would need to be rescheduled because of medical issues.
Fort Lauderdale police say Meyers will face two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Additional charges are pending, they said.
A motive for the shooting remains unclear.
Surveillance video showed a Broward County bus going the wrong way on Broward Boulevard on Thursday while investigators say a passenger was inside was firing off gunshots.
“It was going the wrong direction and all the cars were trying to get out of the way as fast as possible,” a witness said.
The bus crashed into a white Mercedes and a taxi cab, ending up in the Fort Lauderdale Police Department parking lot at 1300 West Broward Blvd. Acting Chief Louie Alvarez said the driver’s decision to take the bus to the police station likely saved lives. She was not injured.
Multiple people were injured in the crash.