What should have been a joyful first day of school turned into a nightmare for dozens of Minneapolis parents when a school bus driver abandoned a bus filled with children, sparking panic, a police response, and outrage across the community in Minnesota.
The incident unfolded outside a McDonald’s on Dupont Avenue North when the bus abruptly stopped and the driver exited, leaving about twelve children, including a special-needs student, trapped inside. The stunned students scrambled to call their parents, one child blurting into the phone: “Hey mom, we’re on the bus and we don’t know what to do. There’s no driver on the bus.”
Parents Sound the Alarm as Police Rush to the Scene
For Pearll Warren, that phone call was every parent’s worst fear come true. Sprinting from her home nearby, she found the bright yellow bus idling in the street with no adult supervision. “It was disheartening, and I was concerned. I have a special needs child on the bus… that’s a high-traffic area, so the probability of anything happening is high,” Warren later said.
Fearing for the children’s safety, Warren dialed 911 and went live on Facebook, streaming the shocking scene in real time. Her video captured the confusion of the children and the fury of local parents as they watched what should have been an ordinary school drop-off spiral into disaster.
Minneapolis police arrived within minutes, ensuring the kids were safe until a supervisor from the bus company could take over. Every child was eventually released to waiting parents, but the fear lingered.
Stonebridge World Charter School, which operates the bus route, confirmed that the driver had violated protocol by leaving the vehicle unattended. School officials assured families that the driver would not return and promised tighter safeguards moving forward.
But for many parents, promises weren’t enough. “Anything could have happened in those few minutes,” one furious father said outside the school.
“What if a stranger had approached? What if there was an accident? We send our kids to school to be protected not abandoned.”
The chilling incident, on what should have been a fresh start to the school year, left Minneapolis families demanding answers. While the children made it home safely, the message from parents is clear that such negligence can never happen again.
