12-Year-Old Student Fires Gun on School Bus

A frightening scene unfolded outside a Chicago elementary school Monday afternoon after a 12-year-old student allegedly got hold of a bus aide’s gun and fired it inside a school bus, shattering a window.

The incident happened just before 2:30 p.m. outside Minnie Miñoso Academy in the 3500 block of South Wallace Street.

Chicago police said the 12-year-old boy found the gun inside an unattended bag belonging to a bus aide.

The child allegedly grabbed the weapon and fired one round, which struck a window on the bus.

School officials said the student has disabilities. The school’s assistant principal confirmed that the man who owned the bag was working as a bus aide.

Other children were on the bus at the time, but thankfully, no injuries were reported.

Police said the bus aide took the gun and the bag following the shooting and fled the scene.

A police source later told CBS News Chicago that the aide turned himself in about three to four hours after the incident. Authorities have not immediately released additional information about possible charges.

Parents waiting outside the school described the terrifying moments surrounding the gunfire.

One parent said she was waiting to pick up her son when she heard what sounded like two loud pops. At first, she thought someone had set off fireworks, but she quickly realized the noise may have been gunshots.

Another mother, Shonterrie Orr, was waiting to pick up her children when the chaos unfolded.

Orr said she did not personally hear the shots, but her three children did.

“My kids don’t even know what it was. They were just standing there. They were standing on the opposite side of the bus,” Orr said.

She was stunned to learn the gun allegedly belonged to a bus aide.

“And it’s like, come on now, bus aide with a gun? I don’t understand it,” she said.

Orr also recalled briefly seeing someone running from the area.

“I saw somebody run, but I didn’t know what they were running from,” she said.

The school was placed on a soft lockdown following the incident, and students were released in waves as officials worked to make sure the area was safe.

In a letter sent to parents, school officials said everyone was safe and emphasized that the gun did not enter the school building or school grounds.

Minnie Miñoso Academy was previously known as McClellan Elementary School. It was renamed in 2023 in honor of Chicago White Sox Hall of Famer Minnie Miñoso.