School Bus Hijacking Ends with
Driver Safe, Suspect in Custody

By Ryan Gray | Senior Editor

LOS ANGELES - Might First Student drivers one day soon have silent alarms at their disposal?

The school bus contractor is asking this question following a harrowing incident in January. Quick-thinking by a bus driver contracted with the Los Angeles Unified School District led to the ultimate capture of a man who allegedly hijacked a school bus at gun point as it headed out from the depot to begin morning route service.

No children were onboard at the time of the Jan. 18 incident.

The female bus driver later feigned diabetes as an excuse to pull the bus over at a rest stop about 200 miles to the north in the state's Central Valley. With the assistance of bystanders she was able to call 911 and report her location to law enforcement authorities. The suspect was arrested nearby about an hour and a half later.

First Student representatives said the school bus driver correctly utilized company security and terrorism training to free herself from a potentially deadly hostage situation.

"The driver followed training to the letter, which in this case allowed her out of the situation safely," said Claude McFerguson, First Student's senior manager for a contract with Los Angeles Unified School District. He added the protocol dictates drivers follow instructions and not upset the attacker until a time when the driver can safely escape the situation.

Gary Catapano, First Student's vice president of safety, said the bus driver was unable to key in the company's universal distress signal because the suspect had a weapon. He added that the company is looking at the possibility of studying the feasibility of installing silent alarms on all its school buses.

Catapano said a long, arduous investigation would first be necessary to determine exactly how the company could best install a silent alarm for drivers to use in case of future emergencies. He cited that the many different makes of buses used in the national fleet and the myriad of radio systems utilized nationwide as just two problematic hurdles to be cleared. The company is currently reviewing its security procedures at bus yards across the country.

Bus on its Way to Pick-Up Students

A spokesperson for the Los Angeles Unified School District confirmed the suspect allegedly hijacked the First Student contracted school bus and a female driver at about 4:50 a.m. as it departed a depot in Gardena about 13 miles southwest of downtown.

"We're very happy no one was injured and no students were involved," said Ellen Morgan, LAUSD manager of communications, adding the driver's actions also reiterate district-wide training for emergency situations. School officials withheld the bus' route number, school and area of service.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Department took Christopher Lee Andrews, 29, of Los Angeles into custody on an outstanding arrest warrant issued earlier in the day by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. Three Los Angeles County Sheriff's detectives flew to the scene to interview the school bus driver and Andrews before extraditing the suspect back to Los Angeles. A Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesperson later confirmed Andrews was booked at the Los Angeles County jail on felony kidnapping, carjacking and first-degree robbery charges.

First Student's McFerguson said the female driver, name withheld, was not physically harmed but was emotionally shaken. She remained on leave the following day.

CHP Officer Steven Schuh said Andrews allegedly used a BB or pellet gun to force the driver on a 200-mile trek north along Interstate 5 into the state's Central Valley. After driving more than four hours the driver seized the opportunity to escape by falsely telling the suspect she was diabetic and needed food. Schuh said the suspect allowed the driver to pull into a rest stop near Coalinga, located about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The driver then exited the bus to use the restroom.

"She took the keys with her and the suspect obviously had no place to go but to flee on foot," he added.

While in the restroom, Schuh said, the visibly distraught driver asked others for assistance. A bystander led the driver to a travel trailer at the opposite end of the parking lot where she called 911 at approximately 9:30 a.m. CHP officers responded within 15 minutes and set up a perimeter around the rest stop, Schuh added. The suspect was then located about two miles away and taken into custody by Fresno County Sheriff's deputies at approximately noon.

"She did a tremendous job," First Student's Catapano added.

Attempted Hijacking Occurred Earlier

In a separate incident, an escaped burglary suspect was killed by Sacramento County Sheriff's deputies on Jan. 6 after attempting to highjack a Rio Linda School District bus with approximately 20 children on board.

According to a statement released by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, police responded to a local Wal-Mart to apprehend the 24-year-old man being held by security officers. The suspect, who was wanted for two other felony warrants, was described as "extremely combative" as deputies took custody and placed him in a patrol car. The man freed himself from his restraints, slipped his handcuffed wrists to the front of this body, kicked out the back window, and jumped from the vehicle.

After several failed attempts to car-jack passing vehicles, the suspect tried to board the Rio Linda school bus using the passenger side mirror as leverage to force the doors open. Sheriff's deputies deployed a Taser gun, which was ineffective, and the man ran to a nearby patrol car where he gained complete access to the vehicle, including a loaded shotgun. A deputy shot the suspect several times in the upper torso, and the man was pronounced dead on the scene by Sacramento Metro Fire personnel.

Associate editor Shanna Thompson contributed to this report.

Source: School Transportation News, March 2006. All rights reserved.