Providence School Children Witness Shooting While on Bus, Say Reports

Providence School Children Witness Shooting While on Bus, Say Reports

A Providence school bus driver reported gunshots during his route on Thursday -- while school children were on the bus. 

According to the Providence police, the driver called authorities following the incident. 

"Thursday after school, a bus driver had a bus full of kids on Alverson Avenue -- facing Hartford [Avenue]-- and when he looked down towards Hartford, he saw two cars interacting with each other," said Providence Police Major David Lapatin. 

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"[Occupants] of one vehicle might have been talking to the other vehicle," said Lapatin. "The driver said he saw a gun come out of one car and fire shots into sky. He said he got the kids down and the cars drove off."

Lapatin said the driver called the police following the incident, and that the police have no leads at this time.

"That's the extent of what we know," said Lapatin. 

Providence City Councilman Michael Correia issued this statement about the incident:

Today, I read on social media that on Thursday, January 2, a school bus carrying approximately 50 students were bystanders to an incident involving two vehicles that allegedly traded between 1 and 5 gunshots. Thankfully these young students were unharmed, and the driver instructed them to get down. However, it has been reported on social media that once it was dispatched to the First Student Dispatch Center it was allegedly not reported to the Providence Police Department. It is my sincere hope that the Providence School Department is offering counseling services to the young children onboard the bus at the time of the incident, and that First Student is taking responsibility for allegedly failing to notify the police immediately.
 

As a Councilman, my first priority is to the residents of Providence, and as the Vice-Chair of the Council's Committee on Public Safety, I take these incidents very seriously, and will be calling for an investigation into this matter.
A member of the Providence Police Department has confirmed this incident, but that there was no evidence of gunshots, and they only have witness statements. If you know anything about this incident I urge you to call the Providence Police Department at 401-272-1111.
 

This story was first published 1/4/20 4:49 PM