Bus driver abandons passengers and enters school carrying gun, California cops say

A driver abandoned his transit bus and passengers and entered a school while armed with a gun, California sheriff’s officials reported.

The incident took place at Lakeview Leadership Academy, a high school in Victorville, at 11:15 a.m. Monday, Dec. 11, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release.

The 28-year-old driver stopped his bus near the school and got off, leaving his passengers, deputies said.

“The man was spotted by staff after he threw a bag over the fence and attempted to enter the campus by hopping the fence.,” the Victor Valley Union High School District said in a statement, according to VVNG. “The individual could not jump the fence and entered through the front office.”

He entered the school lobby, where employees noticed he “appeared to be in an altered state,” deputies said.

A school resource officer detained him and searched him, finding a loaded 9mm handgun, deputies said. He was arrested on firearms possession charges.

The school was briefly locked down, and no students were near the gunman, the school statement said, according to VVNG.

The driver is no longer employed by the Victor Valley Transit Authority, the agency said in a statement to McClatchy News. He underwent rigorous hiring procedures, training and drug testing, the agency said, calling his actions “unforeseen.”

Investigators ask anyone with information to call 760-241-2911.

Victorville is about 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

This story was originally published December 13, 2023 at 9:22 AM with the headline "Bus driver abandons passengers and enters school carrying gun, California cops say."