School bus hit by gunfire in Newark
Published: Tuesday, January 18, 2011, 9:35 PM
The intersection where the shooting took place.NEWARK — A school bus taking three elementary students home in Newark was caught in the middle of a crossfire today. One bullet struck the door of the bus, shattering its window, authorities said.
No one on the bus was injured. One person on the street, who police believe may have been the intended target, was grazed by gunfire, police said.
"Apparently there was somebody who was shooting at the guy and he was struck and the bus got caught in the middle of it," Newark police spokesman Detective Hubert Henderson said.
The bus, carrying students from the Dayton Street Elementary School, had stopped near Irvine Turner Boulevard and Court Street shortly before 5 p.m. to drop off a student when the shots erupted. The driver pulled the student back on to the bus and took off down Court Street, Newark Public Schools spokeswoman Valerie Merritt said.
One bullet shattered a front door window pane and went into the bus, but no one was struck by the bullet, authorities said.
"Thank God no one was injured," Valerie Merritt said. "The driver was great."
Merritt said a vehicle had pulled up near the stopped bus before the shots were fired, but police said they were still investigating the circumstances.
Marques Lewis, a member of the Newark Public Schools advisory board, expresed outrage over the shooting. "It’s outrageous and ridiculous," he said. "They don’t even have the decency to see a bus with children on it. It’s a cowardly act. Our children shouldn’t have to deal with that after a long day of the school."
He also credited the bus driver’s quick action. "If the bus driver didn’t have the reaction to pull the kid back on the bus, the kid could have been a victim," Lewis said.
Camptown Bus Lines, which operates the buses for the school system, had no comment.
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