Youth charged in hijacking school bus bus

Staff

Published Friday, May 30, 2003

Suffolk News-Herald

Suffolk Police arrested a 15-year-old Lakeland High School student late Wednesday after he placed a BB gun to a school bus driver's head earlier in the day.

Police Information Coordinator Mike Simpkins said the youth faces charges of abduction, use of a firearm in the abduction, illegal possession of a firearm on school property, and brandishing the silver-colored firearm on school property.

The youth was arrested around 9 p.m. Simpkins said the incident took place at 2:30 as the bus driver stopped to allow another student to exit the bus in the 1300 block of Lawson Circle. The accused youth had stepped in front of the bus and stood, refusing to move when the driver requested him to do so. When she asked what his problem was, he told her he'd left a book bag on the bus. She then allowed the youth to re-enter the bus, and he went toward the back and, according to Simpkins, began arguing with others.

When the driver insisted that he leave the bus, the youth refused. Simpkins said the bus driver closed the door of the vehicle and told the youth she was returning to school to report the incident.

That's when the 5'8" tall youth walked to the front of the bus, ordering the driver to stop the bus, pulled the handgun from his book bag and placed the gun against her head, Simpkins added.

The student, armed with a .177-caliber pistol-type Marksman BB gun, also known as an "air rifle," told the driver to let him off the bus. She opened the door and the youth exited. Police later picked him up and charged him.

According to the Coordinator of Middle School Education, Kevin L. Alston, the student is also subject to disciplinary action pending the School Board's investigation into the incident.

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