School Bus Driver Shot On The West Side Friday While Kids Were On Board

By Rachel Cromidas in News on Oct 1, 2016 1:05AM

A school bus driver was grazed by a bullet Friday evening while driving his bus with kids on board.

Police told Chicagoist that the driver, 31, was driving the school bus in the 4300 block of West Jackson when shots were fired outside of the bus. The male driver was grazed in the head with a bullet while driving at about 5:33 p.m. He was taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in stable condition. Authorities said the driver and the bus do not appear to be targets of the attack, and no one else on board was injured.

The bus was en route from downtown to Christ the King Jesuit College Preparatory School in South Austin when the shooting took place, according to the Tribune, and the driver was contracted through Sadies Transportation Services, Inc. The bus was driving through West Garfield Park at the time of the shooting, and school officials told the Tribune that it was unclear where the bullet came from.

Several school administrators apparently went to the site of the shooting to aid the students on the bus, and new buses were sent to pick up the students, who were mostly high school juniors. A man who was said he was driving through the area at the time of the shooting told the Sun-Times that he heard about 10 to 20 shots and fled down an alley to get away from the sound.

The shooting represents one of at least three non-fatal shootings that took place Friday afternoon, according to the Tribune; a man was shot around 1:50 p.m. in Back-of-the-Yards and another man was shot around 3 p.m. in Cragin.