Minnesota school bus driver tells student to pick up gun

A Minnesota school bus driver told a middle school student to pick something up along the side of the road. He stopped the bus when he saw something lying in the road and told a student to get off the bus and pick it up. When the student got back onto the bus, he was holding a gun in his hand. From an article:

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.

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.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.

UPDATE (11/9/12):  The bus driver has now been fired.  From an article:

Tufaa said the driver, who he wouldn't name, ignored "very huge signs" inside the bus that prohibit any such action. 

"Even if they see a $20 bill, they cannot pick it up," he said. "They are supposed to call their supervisor immediately." 

The incident is without precedent at MTA, Tufaa said. 

A spokesperson at Robbinsdale Area Schoolssaid the same was true for the school. "This has never happened before," spokesperson Tia Clasen told Golden Valley Patch. "I encourage families to talk to their students about situations that may arise where the students may feel uncomfortable."

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