School bus driver ‘ordered hit on 17-year-old student’ who was shot and injured as he left the vehicle as police investigate reports he sped away from the scene without calling 911
- Police were summoned to a Durham home near on May 29 to reports of gunshots, with a woman telling officers that her teenage son had been targeted
- Documents show he was shot at after he stepped off a North High School school bus by ‘unknown males’ who were hiding nearby
- The mother told police that the driver of the Northern High School bus was involved with the shooting and had a history with the victim and his family
- An investigator then reviewed surveillance footage from inside the bus, which is said to show the driver texting right up until the moment that the boy is shot at
- The victim allegedly rarely rides the bus home in the afternoon, leading police to believe the driver ‘helped coordinate the assault’
- The driver hasn’t been charged by investigators because they can’t yet ‘confirm that he was involved in this incident in any way’
A North Carolina school bus driver may have ordered and coordinated the attempted assassination of a 17-year-old boy who was shot at as he got off a Durham School District bus, court documents show.
Police were summoned to a home near Dearborn Drive and Canada Avenue on May 29 to reports of gunshots, with a panicked woman telling officers that her teenage son had been the target of gun fire as he stepped off from the school bus and walked towards his home.
According to the documents, ‘unknown males were hiding nearby and began to shoot at him,’ but the teen was able to run away and escaped unscathed.
The mother told police that her son believed the driver of the Northern High School bus was involved with the shooting.
A North Carolina school bus driver may have ordered and coordinated the attempted assassination of a 17-year-old boy who was shot at as he got off a Durham School District bus, court documents show
Police were summoned to a home near Dearborn Drive and Canada Avenue on May 29 to reports of gunshots, with a panicked woman telling officers that her teenage son had been the target of gun fire as he stepped off from the school bus and walked towards his home
She said her son and the driver had exchanged derogatory words on the bus earlier the same day.
The driver had also been previously been involved in a physical altercation with one of the boy’s relatives, the mother claimed.
A Durham Police investigator then reviewed surveillance footage from inside the bus, which is said to show the driver texting ‘constantly’ right up until the moment that the boy is shot at.
The victim allegedly rarely rides the bus home in the afternoon, leading police to believe the driver ‘helped coordinate the assault’.
Police have since appealed to a judge to obtain access to the suspect’s cell phone records to back-up their theory.
Investigators also say he failed to report the shooting and just drove away from the scene, despite holding his cell phone in his hand at the time.
The mother told police that her son believed the driver of the Northern High School bus was involved with the shooting. She said her son and the driver had exchanged derogatory words on the bus earlier the same day. The driver had also been previously been involved in a physical altercation with one of the boy’s relatives, the mother claimed
The employee was fired the day after the shooting. He was a substitute driver who had been working with the school since September 5 last year.
‘Our bus drivers as a group are committed to keeping students safe on the road and at bus stops. We will not accept any conduct by a school bus driver that does not uphold this commitment,’ the Durham School District said in a statement.
The suspect’s employment termination letter further states he was fired because he didn’t report the shooting, and he was observed using his phone while driving – a double breach of the system’s policies.
The driver – who has not yet been publicly named – hasn’t been charged by investigators because they can’t yet ‘confirm that he was involved in this incident in any way’.