Sheriff: Army trainee charged after hijacking school bus

[rangerrebew]

Sheriff: Army trainee charged after hijacking school bus
By MEG KINNARDyesterday
 

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — An Army trainee has been arrested and charged with dozens of crimes after authorities say he boarded a South Carolina school bus with a gun Thursday and held the driver and elementary students hostage before letting them off the bus.

During a news conference, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said the incident started at around 7 a.m. near Fort Jackson, the U.S. Army’s largest basic training facility, located in Columbia. The trainee, dressed in physical training clothes, “ran off post and escaped” with a rifle from the installation, Lott said. Deputies then started receiving calls about someone standing on a nearby interstate flagging down cars.

The trainee, whom Lott identified later Thursday as Jovan Collazo, then went to a nearby bus stop where children were waiting to be taken to Forest Lake Elementary School, Lott said, and boarded the bus himself, armed with the rifle.

“He told the bus driver he didn’t want to hurt anybody; he wanted him to drive him to the next town,” Lott said.

https://apnews.com/article/hijacking-arrests-983d15f70ebf3ad8129e1809ca558f47

[rangerrebew]

Army Recruit Who Hijacked Bus Full of Children Was Just Trying to Get Home, General Says
 
6 May 2021
Military.com | By Hope Hodge Seck

A 23-year-old Army recruit from Fort Jackson, S.C., who shocked the local community Thursday by hijacking a school bus with 18 children onboard had no ammunition in his service rifle and was just trying to get back to his home, the training base commander said.

In a news conference Thursday afternoon, Brig. Gen. Milford Beagle Jr. said the yet-to-be-named recruit could face military charges, including absence without leave and theft of government property. Sheriff's officials have said he will be charged with multiple counts of kidnapping.

"A trainee jumped our fence line with his issued weapon and made his way into the community," Beagle said.
 
 https://www.military.com/daily-news/2021/05/06/army-recruit-who-hijacked-bus-full-of-children-was-just-trying-get-home-general-says.html

[rangerrebew]

General Beadle has missed the scent on this one.  I can't even imagine a General making an excuse for a recruit who kidnapped a dozen people.  In my boot camp company we had homesick guys, too, and one even had a nervous breakdown.  But none hijacked a bus.  This must be some new PC thing to make sure the hijacker doesn't have hurt feelings from the things the general says.   I'm also guessing if the perp had been white, there would be no excuses.