Parents in and around the 300 block of North Broad Street were worried Friday as Suffolk Police investigated an attempted abduction from the bus stop earlier in the day.

The incident was reported to emergency communications at 8:35 a.m. after a student told the bus driver what they saw outside the bus, city spokeswoman Diana Klink stated.

According to the student and other witnesses interviewed by police near the corner of North Broad Street and Third Avenue, an unknown black male grabbed a 4-year-old boy waiting to catch the bus to Elephant’s Fork Elementary School.

The child was released, and the suspect left the area on foot, according to Klink. Police are looking for a black male, 5 feet 11 inches to six feet tall, thin to medium build. He was described as wearing a black hoodie.

Elephant’s Fork Principal Andre Skinner sent home a letter to parents, school division spokeswoman Bethanne Bradshaw said. An automated phone message was sent out, and a staff meeting was held at the end of school.

Lotortia Chambliss was among a handful of parents on the corner Friday afternoon to collect their children from the bus. She said her daughter who attends Elephant’s Fork only comes home on the bus.

“I really don’t know what’s going on,” said Chambliss, adding a friend phoned her about the incident. “I just had concerns for my daughter — this is her stop.”

Carolyn Ricks, at a house on the corner, said she looked out the front door about 8:15 a.m. and saw two boys standing on the street right outside. When she checked again 20 minutes later, she said, they were on a porch.

“I don’t have no kids, but I always look out for them,” Ricks said.

She two police officers who came to talk to her said, “Somebody tried to take a little boy.”

Ricks thinks parents need to be more careful. “They put the kids out here and run,” she said.

The investigation is ongoing, Klink stated. Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Line at 1-888-Lock-U-Up. Callers do not have to give their names or appear in court.

Anonymous tips can also be submitted at www.suffolkva.us/crimelinetips or by texting the word “CRIMES” the keyword SPDVATIP.