COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The nation's largest Army basic training base will halt its weapons immersion training after a trainee escaped last week and hijacked a school bus with an unloaded weapon, a Fort Jackson spokesperson announced Thursday afternoon.
The base's commander, Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr., met with other leadership at the base to, "assess force protection, personnel accountability and other measures to prevent future incidents," according to a news release.
While investigations continue, trainees will no longer be given weapons. On May 6, Jovan Collazo escaped from the base with an Army-issued M4 rifle that was not loaded and entered a school bus heading to Forest Lake Elementary School in Columbia.
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It was not known at the time of the kidnapping that Collazo's rifle was not loaded.
"We truly regret this incident and the effect it is having on our community," Beagle said. "I have spoken with Dr. Davis to express my desire to meet with the parents of the children so I can personally share my concerns for them. I want to answer their questions and let them know we are taking actions to prevent this from happening again."
Baron Davis is the superintendent of the Richland 2 School District. The Richland 2 School Board called an emergency meeting May 7 to discuss bus safety procedures and potentially adding more security devices to buses.
Thursday morning, a parent of two students who were on the bus expressed the emotional trauma the incident has taken on his daughters and called on Fort Jackson to explain.
Fort Jackson's goal is "to determine how this happened and what actions are needed to prevent it in the future," according to the release.
Despite the events of May 6, city officials expressed confidence in Fort Jackson's leadership and relationship to the city.
Since the incident and another scandal with a Fort Jackson soldier in the past month, Beagle has been working to bolster community trust, he told The State.
This article is written by Laurryn Salem from The State and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
Related: Army Fort Jackson Trainee Arrested After Allegedly Hijacking a School Bus Full of Children
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