A school bus driver's judgment was under scrutiny Thursday after he instructed a Robbinsdale middle schooler to retrieve something lying on the side of the road. The obedient student ended up bringing back a gun.
About 8 a.m. Thursday, a bus driver en route to Robbinsdale Middle School spotted something on the side of the road near the intersection of 25th and Irving Avenues N. in Minneapolis, said Tia Clasen, spokeswoman for the Robbinsdale schools.
He made an unscheduled stop and asked a seventh-grader to get off the bus and pick up the object, Clasen said.
The driver later reported the incident to staffers at the middle school and reportedly explained that he was bringing the gun to the dispatch office of his bus company, Metropolitan Transportation Network.
Robbinsdale police and the bus company were investigating the incident Thursday, Clasen said.
Clasen said she wasn't aware if the gun was loaded. The identity of the bus driver hasn't been released, but according to bus company supervisor Tashitaa Tufaa, the driver is no longer working for the company.
Robbinsdale Middle School Principal John Cook sent a letter to parents Thursday commending the student for being respectful to the driver but calling the incident an unsafe situation. He asked parents to talk to their kids about what to do in dangerous situations.
NICOLE NORFLEET
