Student hit by school bus at stop; driver charged

ATLANTA — A driver for Atlanta Public Schools (APS) whose school bus struck a 5-year-old boy on Tuesday has been charged with second-degree vehicular homicide and failure to use due regard and school bus safety procedures.

Everette Johnson, an APS kindergartner, was one of six students to disembark the bus at his bus stop. According to police officer James Polite, Johnson was walking in front of the bus when the driver began to pull forward, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

"The right front tire rolled over the child," Polite said in a statement. "Everette tumbled underneath the bus and came to rest underneath the right rear tire."

Another student who exited the bus at the same stop told the newspaper that Johnson had dropped his backpack and notebook after he got off the bus, and when he bent over to pick them up, he was hit by the bus.

Johnson was transported to a local children’s hospital where he later died from his injuries.

An APS spokesman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the school bus driver is on administrative leave pending the outcome of investigations by police and the school district’s transportation department.