Eighteen students were hurt in a bus crash in Denver Thursday afternoon.
Of those who were injured, five were transported to the hospital. The others were treated for bumps and bruises on scene.
Thirty-nine children were on the bus, which was coming from the Denver Montessori Jr/Sr High school.
The bus was hit by a stolen car, which police say may have been connected to an earlier burglary.
“Oh I freaked out,” said Paulette Fara as she waited to pick up her son who was on the bus. “I was glad he was ok and could call but I didn't know anything that was going on.”
“Out of nowhere we just heard a giant boom,” added Alexa Gonzales who was on the bus at the time of the crash. “A lot of people had blood everywhere. I remember seeing people crying and scared and screaming and people going down on their knees.”
The suspect who was driving that car is now in custody. There were two other adults and two children also in that car at the time. Both children and one of the adults were injured in the crash.
According to Denver Police, one of the children is in critical condition and the other two are in serious condition.
During a press conference, Lt. Robert Rock with the Denver Police Department said that an officer noticed a suspicious vehicle on 38th Avenue in Denver. He observed the driver turning north Navajo Street and followed.
At that point, the suspect turned west onto 39th Avenue and sped away. According to police, the suspect ran a stop sign and clipped a vehicle driving northbound on Tejon Street before crashing into the school bus.
The bus ended up crashing hitting a tree.
“[The kids are] shaken up because this was a very traumatic thing for them but physically most of them are OK,” said Denver Public Schools spokesman Will Jones. “Thankfully, again, 21 of the students that were on the bus left with no injuries whatsoever.”
Parents were asked to go to 40th Avenue and Tejon Street to pick up their kids.
The area between 38th to 40th streets and Tejon Avenue were shut down for the investigation.
