Mother concerned after man boards JCPS bus, threatens students

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - Jefferson County Public School students received a scare Friday afternoon when a parent boarded one of the district’s buses and threatened the children on the bus.

Bus #2047, which transports students to and from Carter Elementary School, made a stop Friday afternoon.

At that stop, video shows a man, who claims to be a parent, on the bus threatening the students who he claimed hit his daughter.

“That goes for every little motherf***er on here,” the man can be heard saying in the video. “I don’t give a f***. Touch my daughter again, and I’m going to flip this whole bus.”

The video was shot by a cell phone camera and shared with WAVE News.

Along with the man screaming, the video also shows another man, presumably the bus’s driver, trying to get the man off the bus. It also shows several children, some who can be heard sobbing.

One woman, who did not want to be identified, told WAVE News her child was a bystander on the bus when the incident happened.

“Oh my gosh,” the woman said. “It was tears, because you can only, as a a parent, you can’t get to that child at that point when you hear them crying. It just hurt a lot.”

She told WAVE News she was so concerned about what happened, that she held her child out of school on Monday and planned to do so for the rest of the week.

“I’m still scared for my child and other students that were on that bus, in hopes that something can get done to it, because it just seems like our children are being failed all across the board,” she said. “They need to feel like they’re safe, leaving their home going to school and leaving their school and coming back home, safely.”

Carter Elementary’s Principal Jamie Wyman sent the following email to parents Friday:

August 26, 2022

Dear Families of Bus #2047 Students,

I wanted to let you know about an incident that happened on your student’s bus this afternoon. While at a bus stop, an adult and a girl boarded Bus #2047 threatening the students on the bus. The bus driver ushered the two non-Carter Elementary people off the bus but they got in a vehicle and followed the bus. Students reported seeing the occupants of the vehicle display a gun while following Bus #2047.

Police and JCPS Security were notified and the bus driver was told to return to our school and not make any more stops. We had students wait on the bus until LMPD and JCPS Security arrived. They are investigating this incident.

I wanted to thank all of you for agreeing to come pick up your child from school. We feel this was the safest and best way for your children to get home today. I also want to thank the bus driver for his quick action and for stepping up to keep all of our kids safe.

I understand that your child may be suffering some trauma from this incident. I hope that you will discuss what happened with your child and reach out to our counselor who will be available to talk to students on Monday.

The safety of our students and staff is our top priority at Carter Elementary. Feel free to contact me at 502-485-8225.

Sincerely,

Jamie Wyman

Principal, Carter Elementary School

A JCPS spokesperson told WAVE News there was a School Safety Officer (SSO) present at Carter Elementary during afternoon dismissal. That same spokesperson also said a LMPD officer followed the bus in the morning and a JCPS security guard monitored the bus stop in question.

A LMPD spokesperson said to the department’s knowledge, nobody was arrested in connection to the event.

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