An armed U.S. Army trainee hijacked a busload of elementary school students in South Carolina on Thursday before letting the children off, abandoning the vehicle and surrendering, authorities said.
The trainee from Fort Jackson left the base with a rifle about 7 a.m. ET and tried flagging motorists on Interstate 77 before spotting a school bus stop, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.
He "told the bus driver that he didn't want to hurt him, but he wanted him to drive him to the next town," according to the sheriff.
The suspect, who was wearing his Army physical training gear, brought all 18 children to the front of the bus, where they "started asking lots of questions to the suspect, if he was going to hurt them or the bus driver," Lott said.
That questioning "frustrated" the armed intruder before he let the children and driver off, drove himself a short distance, abandoned the bus, left the rifle on board and was captured without incident, according to the sheriff.
The bus driver and the students, who were headed to Forest Lake Elementary School in Columbia, were not harmed.
"We're very thankful that we had a situation this morning that ended very peacefully where we didn't have anyone that was hurt," Lott said.
"Probably one of the scariest calls that we can get in law enforcement ... that a school bus has been hijacked with kids on it with with someone with a gun and that's what we had this morning."
Some students had cellphones and called their parents, alerting them to the hijacking, officials said. Lott credited the bus driver for keeping his composure.
"I’ll give the bus driver credit," the sheriff said. "He kept his cool. He didn’t overreact. He didn’t get excited. He kept his cool enough that kept the situation calm. And I will tell you his main concern was the safety of those kids.”
Richland School District Two Superintendent Baron Davis thanked sheriff's deputies, Columbia police officers and the South Carolina Highway Patrol for their work.
"This incident could have ended very tragically," Davis said. “I’ve never been as sacred in my life upon receiving that call.”
The suspect, whose name has not been released, is expected to be charged with multiple counts of kidnapping, authorities said.
He was in this third week of a 10-week basic combat training at Fort Jackson, officials said. The base spokeswoman could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday.
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