School Bus Struck By Bullet After Dropping Off Kids In Chicago

NORTHBROOK, IL — Police and school officials said a school bus was struck by gunfire Tuesday morning after it dropped off students, staff and chaperones from Northbrook District 28 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago Tuesday morning.

Third graders from Westmoor School arrived at the museum in the Hyde Park neighborhood around 10:30 a.m., according to a message sent to parents and staff from Superintendent Larry Hewitt.

About an hour later and several blocks south, someone fired bullets that struck the right side of the bus, Chicago police said. There were no passengers on board and no injuries reported from the shooting, which police said also damaged two other vehicles around 11:30 a.m. in the 6000 block of South Stony Island Avenue, along the west side of Jackson Park.

According to the district's bus company, First Student, the driver reported the bus had been struck by two bullets in the area of 67th Street and Stoney Island. She was "shaken up by the incident" but suffered no injuries, other than a scrape, Hewitt told parents.

The driver returned the damaged bus to the company's depot, and a new bus arrived at the museum at the planned time of departure. Neither students nor staff was immediately aware of the incident, according to the superintendent.

Chicago police do not believe the school bus was the target of the shooting, Hewitt said, citing bus company officials. Police are investigating a fight that was taking place in the area of the shooting, he said.

"People join me in sending our bus driver well wishes," Hewitt asked.