Parents speak out after school bus is shot at with a bb gun

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SOUTH BEND, Ind., --- Some concerned parents at Coquillard Elementary School spoke out after a student shot out a school bus window with a bb gun Tuesday afternoon while students were on the bus heading home from school.

Although the school said it sent out a letter about the incident to families, some concerned parents including those who had kids on the bus at the time were still frustrated about how they said it was handled.

 Now they are worried about their kids' safety.

“A kid shot at the school bus as it was leaving,” said a Coquillard parent, who wanted to remain anonymous. “It’s kind of upsetting and that shouldn’t have happened. The whole way the incident was handled I feel like it could have been so much better.”

This concerned Coquillard parent said her kids were getting ready to get off the school bus when the incident happened Tuesday afternoon.

“My daughters got off the bus since he drops them off right in front of my house. They ran to me to inform me that some student had shot a gun, at this moment I’m thinking that it was inside the bus. A lot of things ran through my mind.”

The South Bend Empowerment Zone officials said a student got off the bus and fired a bb gun at the back of the vehicle that shattered the bus’s back window.

Although no kids were hurt, parents ABC57 spoke with said they’re frustrated about how the situation was handled and the communication that came after.

“30 minutes passed no cops, a parent ended up calling the cops after that. They weren’t the ones to actually make the call or the school. I would have wanted emergency like ambulance or something checking my kids to make sure they weren’t actually hit before they got home.”

“I wonder if it would have took someone to get injured for them to say something. I found on a Facebook post at like 2 in the morning and didn’t get nothing from the school until the next day,” added Carlos Burt, another parent at the school.

Many parents said they are worried about their kids’ safety and some have even reconsidered sending them back to this school.

“I’ll be picking them up and taking them to school. I don’t feel safe them on the bus. They’re definitely not coming back to the school. They’re definitely not coming back.”

“I’m thinking about sending them somewhere else,” added Burt.

Now the school is run under the South Bend Empowerment Zone which uses a different than the South Bend Community School Corporation.

The Empowerment Zone declined an interview with ABC57 and we did not hear back from the transportation company they use.

The principal sent out this letter to parents and to ABC57.


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