CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A bus driver for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) has been praised for stopping an attempted bus hijacking by a seventh-grade student on Monday.
Evan Okoduwa convinced the student to hand over the loaded gun he was carrying and ended the hijacking, the Charlotte Observer reports. The boy, a student at Northeast Middle School, reportedly carried two guns onto the bus and tried to force Okoduwa to drive him to another location.
According to the news source, other students on board the bus said the boy claimed he wanted to go to Washington and shoot government officials. CMS officials told the Charlotte Observer they assume the student had the weapons with him in school earlier that day.
After the student had handed over the gun, Okoduwa left him with a passerby who had stopped to see why the bus was stopped in the road. Okoduwa then drove the bus away, called his supervisor and waited for police to arrive.
The boy has been charged with eight counts of kidnapping and two counts of bringing a firearm onto school property. He is jailed at a juvenile detention center. He also faces expulsion from CMS.
Another Northeast student on the bus had been handed the second loaded gun by the first student. That student held onto it and did not participate in the attempted hijacking, CMS Deputy Police Chief Randy Hagler told the news source.
Northeast Middle School planned to have extra counselors on campus Tuesday. Officials said they also intend to increase bus security.
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