Boston

‘Those Kids Were Crying': School Bus Driver Recalls Attack by Parent in Roxbury

The driver was taken to the hospital - the extent of his injuries was not immediately clear.

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A parent is accused of attacking a school bus driver in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood Tuesday, allegedly punching the driver and pulling a knife in front of the children who were on the bus, according to Boston police.

Police and Boston Public Schools said the attack was reported around 2 p.m. near Kenilworth and Dudley streets on a bus for the Trotter School. The suspect, who police say is the mother of a child, is accused of attacking the driver, punching him in the stomach and pulling a knife.

The victim, who wants to remain anonymous, has been a bus driver for 27 years and is a father himself. He told NBC10 Boston the attack happened in the middle of his afternoon drop-off route.

"I'm approaching the stop, she didn't even wait — I opened the door, she got right onto the bus and hit me, and she took off and she pulled out her knife," he said.

The man says he was punched in the stomach before the woman, a parent of a child onboard, pulled the weapon.

Students were left terrified.

"Those kids were crying and everything," the driver said. "They were scared."

The problems started Monday, the driver said, when the parent yelled at him for dropping off her daughter late.

"She was upset because I was running a few minutes late," she said.

Police arrived at the intersection where Tuesday's attack took place sometime after 2 p.m., but the woman was gone before they could find her. She is not in custody, but police say they know who she is and they are looking for her.

Families of children on the bus were immediately notified so students could be picked up.

The driver was taken to the hospital. He told NBC10 Boston Tuesday night that he had been released.

"I think that that parent, whoever she is really should be ashamed of herself, because what example is she setting for her own children and for other children, that the way to handle an argument or something that happened between you to pull a knife on the bus driver?" said Elizabeth Nagarajah, who lives nearby.

"The Trotter School, alongside the entire Boston Public Schools, has no higher priority than providing a safe, affirming learning environment for our students to thrive. Our buses are considered an extension of the classroom," Trotter School Principal Sarita Thomas said in a letter to families.

Polling from MassINC shows 81% of parents of high school students in Boston Public Schools are fearful of their children's safety in the classroom, with 70% of parents saying they're concerned with their children's emotional wellbeing.

A Boston City Council hearing will be held on May 5 to discuss increasing collaboration between the Boston Police Department and the school district to ensure safety for students and staff.

City Councilor Erin Murphy, who is sponsoring the hearing, has called for police officers and metal detectors in schools.

"As a 25-year public school educator, I know parents. I know students. And I know that schools run best when they are as free as possible from strife and the threat of violence," Murphy said in a statement Monday. "It's not rocket science. It's common sense. The normalization of violence in schools can never be allowed to take hold."

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