WATCH: Student attacks school bus driver in Colorado
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. (KDVR) — Colorado school bus driver Laura Owen loves her job because she takes pride in safely getting students where they need to go.
That makes what happened to her on Jan. 29 all the more devastating and difficult for her to take in.
Video obtained by Nexstar’s KDVR shows a female student coming up behind Owen at an afternoon stop in Jefferson County. Owen said she initially asked the student’s boyfriend to get off at the stop for moving around the aisle, standing and putting safety in jeopardy.
The video shows the female student hold a phone up to the driver, saying her mother is on the line. Owen is then heard on surveillance video acknowledging the threats she hears on the phone — that this person is going to “kill me” — before asking the female student to exit the bus again.
“We only implement the bus safety that we are instructed to do per district policy and nothing more than that,” Owen said.
After refusing to get off of the bus, the student then goes back to a seat and is seen coming back to Owen and physically assaulting her.
“I didn’t do anything to deserve that. This situation should have never happened,” Owen said.
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Owen suffered a concussion and now battles residual and constant ringing in her ears, headaches and neck pain on top of emotional trauma as she tries to recover a portion of her salary through workers’ compensation.
“The best thing I can do is get back to work at this point. But physically and mentally, I have to be OK for those kids. So I’m doing the best that I can right now,” Owen said.
“I can’t change what happened. I can only pray that things get safer throughout the district,” Owen said.
Jefferson County Public Schools responds after attack
Jefferson County Public Schools released the following statement:
“On January 29 a very serious incident took place on one of our school buses which resulted in harm to one of our bus drivers. Disciplinary action has been initiated by the district and local law enforcement has an open investigation related to this matter.
We want to commend the other students who were on the bus at the time who checked in on the driver’s wellbeing and offered her support in addition to the SRO who responded immediately. In Jeffco we value all of our staff and our bus drivers, in particular, play such an important role in students’ education in getting them to and from school. It is absolutely unacceptable to us that an employee would come to harm on the job. In reviewing all safety incidents we strive to improve and strengthen our measures to keep our staff and students safe.
The district is concerned for this driver’s wellbeing and working with her to ensure she has the time she needs to recover and support to return to the job when she is ready.”
Jeffco Public Schools
Loved ones have made a GoFundMe for Owen to support her while she is out of work recovering.
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