Man boards bus, leaves loaded gun magazine

PHOENIX — A school district here is making changes to its policy of allowing parents and guardians on school buses after a man boarded a bus and left a loaded gun magazine on board, The Arizona Republic reports.

Last Thursday, a man followed a boy onto his school bus and sat near the back of the vehicle. He convinced an adult aide on the bus that he was accompanying the student; the boy did not dispute the man’s claim, and the aide allowed the man to stay on the bus, a spokeswoman for Alhambra Elementary School District told the newspaper.

After West left the bus, a student found a fully loaded 9 mm handgun magazine on the seat where the man had been sitting and gave it to the bus aide. Police talked to the man, identified as Jeremy West, who confirmed that he had been on the bus and had left the magazine on board. West was arrested on Thursday evening.

In the wake of the incident, Alhambra Elementary School District will now require parents transported on school buses to register as volunteers with the district, and they will be issued a district photo identification badge.

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