yesterday was not a normal day. daddy stayed home to supervise some hvac work, so when little sister did not call me (as is the usual routine) when she got home from school, i figured she had made it home to daddy. but that was not the case.
school ends at 2:55, and she gets home and calls me anywhere between 3:20-3:35. well, between the time the bus loaded at school, left, and drove the few miles to our side of town, there arose a police situation. someone called 911 to report an armed man walking around in front of houses. a patrol car was dispatched, and when the man was confronted he barricaded himself in his home. the swat team was called in, and at some point there was gunfire. a swat detective was struck and later that night he died. this all happened in the neighborhood behind our neighborhood - the neighborhood little sister's bus drops off kids in before coming to our neighborhood. and this all happened after little sister's bus entered that neighborhood, but before it was able to exit.
when the bus came upon the police scene, it was directed to proceed down to the end of the street and park in a cul-de-sac. they ended up sitting there until around 6:30. the whole neighborhood was on lockdown, and roads leading into it were barricaded. big sister's campus nearby was on lockdown and was not able to have dismissal at 3:40. her school was not released until about 6:00. i kept getting automated calls from the district saying big sister's school was on passive lockdown due to police activity in the area. but i had no idea little sister was not home until i called daddy to talk about big sister. little sister had called daddy from a friend's phone to say she was stuck on the bus.
so i left work at 4:30, not knowing if i would even be able to get home because of basically having to pass between the locked down neighborhood and locked down school to get home. when i saw the road was blocked, i parked at the elementary to wait it out and figure out what to do. i ran into another mom, who suggested i call the bus barn to get their story. i understood there were many unknowns, but i wanted to know if i could go get my daughter somehow (walk?) or what the plan was to get the kids out of that situation. they informed me that a police car was going to transport the kids from the bus to the nearest elementary school, but timing was unknown. so there i sat, in the elementary school parking lot, praying and searching for any info online, texting with friends, etc.
around 6:00, the district called saying they were releasing big sister's school, buses first. we slowly began to see buses leave the area, but no one was allowed to enter yet. the street was a parking lot with cars waiting to get in. since daddy was on the inside of the barricade, he was able to go get big sister. i decided to leave my car and walk to daddy. just as we were about to be home, we got the call that bus 22 (little sister's bus) was heading to the local elementary. so, daddy took me back to big sister's school, just before the barricade, and i hopped out and walked to the elementary. about 20 minutes later, little sister and all her busmates arrived - safe, a little shaken, quiet, tired, and hungry. by then the road was passable so we drove both cars home and tried to get back to "normal." little sister told us she wasn't really scared, just worried. apparently they saw the paramedics giving the wounded officer CPR after he was pulled from the scene, right in front of their bus. the driver just put her hands up to block the view and told the kids to get to the back of the bus. she said people from nearby houses kept bringing them food and drinks, figuring they were hungry but no one ate anything. then a police officer knocked on the bus door, told the kids to grab their stuff and follow him. he led them thru an open gate into someone's backyard, then led them thru a busted-down section of fence, thru a field to an empty bus in the post office parking lot. that bus transported them to the elementary.
i know things could have been much, much worse. the school bus driver kept the kids safe, and i am thankful. i am grateful to the citizen that called 911 to report the armed man walking around the neighborhood that my daughter's bus was about to drive thru. we will never know the true events or timeline, but our town is grieving with the loss of the detective and things are very somber. i thank God for keeping my family safe last night.
