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Latest On Fatal Chattanooga School Bus Crash

A school bus in Chattanooga crashed Monday afternoon. Police say speed is likely a contributing factor. Credit: via Chattanooga Fire Department
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Updated 4:30 p.m.

Emergency physicians in Chattanooga are just now slowing down after a whirlwind 24 hours. Most of the students involved in the deadly bus crash were taken to Erlanger hospital.

Dr. Darwin Koller said in a press conference this afternoon that the students were nearly impossible to identify because no one had an ID. They were all wearing uniforms, and none of them arrived with their parents. On top of all that, Koller says the elementary students were in shock.

“Because of their young age, many of them didn’t know their birth dates or their parent’s names,” he said. “Several of them said ‘momma’ when they were asked what their name was.”

To figure out who was who, the hospital took photographs of each child and sent them to the school to confirm IDs with teachers.

Five students died in the crash. 12 others were still hospitalized, with half of them in the ICU. Erlanger has been overwhelmed by visitors. At one point, hospital officials estimate 800 family members were on the campus.

Updated 4 p.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet interviewed the Chattanooga school bus driver responsible for an accident that killed five students Monday afternoon and left 12 students hospitalized, some in the ICU. The agency has, however, been interviewing witnesses and looking for more.

NTSB chairman Christopher Hart told reporters the early days after a crash are important to get recollections before memories become shaped by news coverage.

“We dig and dig and dig and dig. We don’t like to go home without the answer,” he said. “We will determine what caused this accident, and we will make recommendations to try and prevent it from happening again.”

Chattanooga police have suggested that speed is likely a significant factor. The driver, Johnthony Walker, also had a checkered driving history. As recently as two months ago, WSMV says state records show
he sideswiped a car with his bus. A parent also tells WRCB-TV in Chattanooga that she had
written to the school to complain about Walker’s driving just two weeks ago.

There were two cameras aboard, according to Hart. But so far, the NTSB has not reviewed the footage. The agency plans to update the press again Wednesday.

Updated 11 a.m.

Monday’s fatal school bus crash has renewed calls for seatbelts on buses. Rep. Gerald McCormick tells the
Tennessean he’s
already drafting the legislation, and he believes the state should even take the expensive route and retrofit every bus.

After three significant crashes — two of them fatal — in less than two years, Gov. Bill Haslam says it’s time to consider ways to make buses safer, beyond just adding seatbelts.

“The whole situation, I think, really needs all of us to sit down and look at requirements for driving, requirements for bus safety, and then how do we make certain that’s a more attractive job so we can attract the people that we need.”

The mother of the driver in the Chattanooga crash says her heart goes out to families. “And please, I’m asking for compassion also for my son,” Gwenevere Cook told WPLN’s Emily Siner.

The contractor who employed Cook’s son and operates Hamilton County’s school buses has released a statement.

Updated 10 a.m.

The National Transportation Safety Board is now on the ground, launching what is expected to be a lengthy investigation of Monday afternoon’s school bus crash in Chattanooga.

We’re learning more about the driver, who has been charged with vehicular homicide.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tells WSMV-TV that Johnthony Walker has no criminal history. A neighbor tells WPLN’s Emily Siner that he was a good kid who never caused any trouble.

Walker’s mother says he skateboarded to work every morning and was never late. He started driving this school year after a few months of training, according to her.

A vigil has been planned for this evening, and
a fund for families of the victims has already been set up.

Updated 7 a.m.

City officials in Chattanooga held another press conference before the start of school at Woodmore Elementary, where five students died in an accident Monday afternoon. Counselors were already arriving to work with grieving students.

Officials say three students were in fourth grade, one in first and another in kindergarten. Twelve children remain hospitalized, with six of them in intensive care.

The National Transportation Safety Board is on the scene and says it could be on the ground investigating for more than a week.

Police released a mug shot of the bus driver overnight.

Updated 11 p.m.

The 24-year-old school bus driver who was behind the wheel in a fatal crash in Chattanooga has been arrested, according to police chief Fred Fletcher. In a media briefing close to midnight local time, he also confirmed five fatalities.

Johnthony Walker is being charged with five counts of vehicular homicide as well as reckless endangerment.

“This is an absolute nightmare for this community,” Fletcher said.

Not all families have been notified of the condition of their children, he said. And police do not have a list of everyone who was on the bus. Fletcher asked that anyone who transported a child from the crash site in a private vehicle should notify officials.

Reported earlier:

As of late Monday night, Chattanooga police confirmed “multiple fatalities,” but no exact number in a school bus crash. Many media outlets are
reporting six deaths.

Police say the bus driver is cooperating with authorities and that speed was likely a contributing factor in an accident that resulted in the bus flipping on its side.

Police chief Fred Fletcher took questions, saying road conditions were clear and dry. He also called the crash site a “crime scene.”

Another press conference is scheduled for 7 a.m. Eastern Time, as students begin arriving at Woodmore Elementary, where students on the bus attended.

“If parents feel it necessary to keep their students home from Woodmore Elementary, we understand, but want to once again remind you extra trained personnel will be there to counsel and aid a
nyone seeking assistance in dealing with this horrible tragedy,” Hamilton County Schools officials said in a statement.

Tennessee considered a law requiring seatbelts on school buses, following a fatal accident in Knoxville in 2014. But the bill failed to pass based on questions about
enforcement, effectiveness and the
cost of retrofitting buses.

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