A person hijacked a New York Metropolis bus with a pretend gun Thursday morning and crashed it right into a utility pole exterior an elementary college, slightly over a block after the bus driver escaped by leaping out the window, police mentioned.
The 44-year-old suspect, who police didn’t publicly establish, flashed what police mentioned was seemingly a BB gun on the bus driver of an eastbound This autumn bus at Linden Boulevard and 197th Avenue, in Queens, from exterior the bus earlier than getting on board shortly after 7:20 a.m., police mentioned.
When the suspect bought on the bus, he put the pretend gun in his waistband and demanded the driving force preserve going, alleging that he was being chased, police mentioned. At that time, the driving force opened all of the bus doorways, permitting the 20 – 25 passengers on board to flee — a call that officers later praised him for.
About quarter-hour later, roughly a mile and a half from the place the suspect hijacked the bus, the driving force escaped by leaping out the driving force’s facet window, at Linden Boulevard and 232nd Avenue, police mentioned.
The suspect briefly took the wheel of the bus earlier than crashing it right into a utility pole a few block and a half later, on Linden Boulevard between 233rd and 234th streets, simply exterior of an elementary college.
Video of the scene exhibits the utility pole mendacity horizontal throughout the bus roof.
The suspect tried to flee the scene, however police arrested him throughout the road from the crash, police mentioned.
The college was in session on the time of the crash, and college students had been despatched residence, based on officers.
The realm was anticipated to endure energy outages into the early afternoon because of the crash.
Each the bus driver and the suspect acquired remedy for minor accidents at native hospitals, officers mentioned.
Fees towards the suspect are pending, and the investigation stays ongoing.
