When parents send their children to school in the morning, they hope that they'll be dropped off safely at a place that has their best interests at heart. But unfortunately, sometimes incidents happen. And while this particular incident ended well, it shouldn't have happened at all.
Several parents in South Carolina got word that their children's bus had been hijacked by 23-year-old Jovan Collazo, who was trying to leave his Army training in Fort Jackson. When Collazo got on the bus, he allegedly threatened 18 children and the bus driver with a rifle.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott was shaken even talking about the story, thankful that nothing worse had happened. Still, it's a memory that will plague these children — and their parents — for a long time.
Sheriff Lott was quick to give credit to the bus driver, who flawlessly handled the situation. "Bus drivers are unsung heroes, and they are," he said. "I think we saw that today. We saw a bus driver who cared about the children on that bus, and he used his training to protect those children."
The bus driver, who's currently not being named, reportedly stayed calm through the whole ordeal and also did his best to keep the kids calm. This was likely part of his training that he hoped he'd never have to resort to. Collazo reportedly tried to flee his training and go home. He had hopped the fence and attempted to stop several cars before finding the school bus.
The good news is, the rifle reportedly wasn't loaded. But the bus driver and the children were unaware of that. The gun itself was reportedly assigned to Collazo during his training. "It didn't matter if there was a bullet in it or not; in the bus driver's and those kids' minds, that was a loaded gun being pointed at them," Sheriff Lott commented. "That put the fear in their hearts."
It's unfortunate to know that many of these children have already had training on how to deal with an active shooter situation. Still, it's upsetting to know that they had feared for their lives while on that bus. They reportedly weren't afraid to ask the gunman questions, possibly as a way to throw him off track — or just to get more clarity on the situation at hand.
Sheriff Lott was quick to talk about the incident to the community. Aside from praising the bus driver, he also praised the children. "They did not get upset," he said. "They were scared to death. Six minutes they were traumatized. Six complete minutes that the bad guy was on the bus with a gun. But they were not hysterical. They did what they were trained to do."
The children on the bus were all in elementary school, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade. "The kids were asking questions: Are you a soldier? Are you gonna hurt us? Are you gonna hurt the bus driver? They were being kids," said Sheriff Lott. "I think that added to the frustration that he had trying to get away."
People magazine reports that Collazo is originally from New Jersey, which is likely where he was trying to go after fleeing his training. After getting agitated with the children, Collazo reportedly ordered them off the bus and tried to take the vehicle himself. Unfortunately for him, driving a bus can be difficult if you're not trained, and he gave up trying.
People also notes that Collazo had started basic training only three weeks prior. But based on his upsetting method of escape, now he's facing 19 counts of kidnapping along with additional charges of armed robbery and weapons possession, carjacking, and possessing a weapon on school property. These charges — along with the severity of the story itself — will make it hard for him to lead a standard life.
A student named Ke'aundre James was one of the 18 kids on the bus, and he detailed to ABC News his memory of the ordeal. He and his friends were near the back of the bus when the gunman jumped on board. Prior to that moment, it had been a normal morning.
"I peeked around the corner and saw him holding an assault rifle at the bus driver’s head," Ke'aundre said. He stated that the younger kids were closer to the gunman, which is an upsetting visual. "He was saying, ‘go go go, close the door, hurry up, take me to the next town,'" he added.
Ke'aundre made a great move. He had a phone on him, so he called his dad. Of course, he also knew such a move would make him a target to Collazo. "He told everybody to move up to the front, but I was still talking to my parents so I put my phone on silent, put it in my pants and put my jacket over it and went to the front," he said.
Ke'aundre's parents were able to overhear some of the conversation and called the police immediately. While they helped solve the situation and keep people safe, Ke'aundre also credits the driver for being very professional during the interaction. "He was keeping his calm and he was driving, just listening to the man," the student said.
Fort Jackson also issued a statement on what happened. Brigadier General Milford Beagle admitted that some mistakes were made that allowed this event to occur. "For me this was a key failure in our accountability processes that I will fix going forward because the outcome potentially could have been much worse," he said, per WLTX.
"There is nothing that leads us to believe, through his counseling, through his screening records, that this had anything to do with harming others, harming himself," General Beagle said. "We think [getting home] was truly his intent, and nothing beyond that," he continued. But that goal shouldn't have interfered with the emotions of 18 schoolchildren and a bus driver. While everyone is safe, this is still an incident that's too scary to sweep under the rug.
