Bystander had to pull 4-year-old through window when he was left on bus, La. mom says

A Baton Rouge, Louisiana, mom was shocked to learn that her 4-year-old son wasn’t at school Tuesday morning. Instead, the child had been miles away, locked inside a stuffy, empty school bus sitting in the middle of a furniture store’s parking lot, police say in a WBRZ report.

It had been around an hour and a half since the child was supposed to have been dropped off at his pre-K school when a bystander found the child in the bus and called the school, the Advocate reported.

The child was supposed to be bound for Southdowns School, a school system spokesperson told the paper. Instead, the boy was found more than six miles away, outside a furniture business called Affordable Home Furnishings.

Officials said a person walking by saw the child and called for help, according to WAFB.

The child’s mother, Ashley Williams, said the man climbed on the side of the bus and pulled the boy through the window after he heard the child screaming, WBRZ reported.

“How she left my child on that bus, I don’t know what she was thinking ...” the boy’s mother said, according to the station. “No air circulation ... Thank god it was not as hot today as it has been in the past.”

The temperature at that time in Baton Rouge was approximately 85 degrees, according to historic data from Weather Underground. The child was not injured.

The bus driver was fired, WAFB reported. “As a result of today’s events, all drivers will be reminded of this state law,” a school district spokeswoman said, according to the station. “The safety and security of all students is our top priority.”

The Louisiana Department of Education’s bus transportation handbook has accounting for students on the bus as No. 2 on the list of bus driver responsibilities.

“Conduct pre-trip, en-route and post-trip checks on the vehicle and its special equipment. Particular attention should be given to checking for passengers who may have remained on board after each run or trip has been completed,” the handbook says.

It’s the second time an incident like this has happened in the district in the last few months. In March, a 4-year-old girl was spotted sitting under a tree in the parking lot of a grocery store in Baton Rouge, police say, the Advocate reported. She had apparently been left on the bus and had been alone for four hours, according to the paper.