Georgia Woman Allegedly Shot Up Bus Carrying Elementary School Children, Police Say

A woman in Georgia who was armed is accused of opening fire on a bus with four elementary school children on board, authorities said.

Around 7:15 a.m. on May 9, the bus was making its way to Riverside Elementary School in Suwanee when Celeste Michele Saunders allegedly began shooting at the vehicle, police said, according to WAGA-TV.

The driver yelled for the passengers on the bus to get down and then swerved over a curb and drove through a lawn and driveway in order to avoid the shooter, WSB-TV reported.

A mother accompanying her 5-year-old daughter on the bus recalled hearing about a dozen gunshots ring out before the driver kept driving toward the school and safety.

“Just to have the presence of mind, just to digest what’s going on at the time and two, to think of the kids and have the wherewithal to say the safest place around here is school, that’s fantastic,” the mom said.

The driver sustained cuts from shattered glass, according to WSB-TV.

Eyewitnesses told the station police stopped the woman in her car and she was a resident of the neighborhood where the incident occurred.

Saunders faces multiple charges that include four counts of first-degree cruelty to children, five counts of aggravated assault, and one count each of possession of a firearm during the commission of certain felonies, and unauthorized discharge of a firearm near a public street.