鈥淭his has changed my whole life,鈥� said Natalie Brower, her voice shaking as she addressed reporters from the offices of ACE-AFSCME Local 2250.
For the first time since that fateful day, Brower spoke out about the attempted shooting of a student by three teenage boys on her school bus last month.
On May 1, Brower stopped to drop off a final student from a Prince George’s County school when three suspects boarded her bus at the intersection of Iverson Street and Sutler Drive to attack a student.
During the assault, one of the suspects known as 鈥淏aby K鈥� is alleged to have brandished a handgun and attempted to shoot the victim several times. The weapon malfunctioned, and the student survived the attack with only minor injuries.
What does she remember?
鈥淥h 鈥� that gun,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat gun and seeing that gun jam. And thinking [the victim] was sitting in the seats directly behind me. Right behind me when they attacked him.鈥�
Otherwise, the boys who got on that bus that day never said a word to her. Never even looked at her, she said. But since then, Brower can鈥檛 shake the idea that if the gun hadn鈥檛 jammed she might not have made it either.
鈥淚t鈥檚 something I wouldn鈥檛 want my worst enemy to go through,鈥� she said.
Once the driver’s aide got back on her bus, she drove everyone to a safe place about a mile away to wait for police. She said the boy was beaten pretty badly and left bloodied and swollen.
鈥淗e said ‘let鈥檚 go, let鈥檚 go, they鈥檙e trying to kill me,’鈥� she remembered. “He had a big knot on his face. They hit him pretty hard.”
Brower said she can鈥檛 shake what happened. She鈥檚 now dealing with anxiety and insomnia, which is stronger than the medication prescribed to help her sleep. She hasn鈥檛 gone back to work yet, and she鈥檚 not sure she will.
Brower and Martin Diggs, the president of ACE-AFSCME 2250, the union that represents personnel throughout the school system, say more is needed to protect school employees.
鈥淲e want the county 鈥� to take a look at the recommendations that Local 2250 have given to the school system,鈥� said Diggs.
That includes beefing up security at elementary schools and on buses, noting that some administrative buildings used by the school system that don鈥檛 have any students in them still have more security than those facilities that do. They want more security and more working cameras on buses, which he said are currently used to protect kids but not drivers.
鈥淭hey need to have additional aides on the bus so the bus driver can focus in on driving,鈥� he said.
鈥淭he response has been so far is that we can鈥檛 make these changes due to the budgetary implications,鈥� said Diggs. 鈥淪o are we actually saying we can鈥檛 make any changes until someone gets killed?
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want the schoolyard to be the graveyard and if we don鈥檛 make some changes that鈥檚 what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� he added.
The teenagers that stormed the bus 鈥� a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old, and an additional 14-year-old girl 鈥� are all being held without bond and facing charges related to the case. The armed teenager, who police are聽only referring to as 鈥淏aby K,鈥� is being聽charged as an adult with first and second-degree attempted murder, assault, firearms offenses and additional charges.
