A Wisconsin mother allegedly smashed a school bus window with a hammer to rescue her daughter from being attacked by another student, terrifying the students trapped inside, according to a video of the incident released Tuesday.
The surveillance video, taken inside a school bus carrying high school students in Glendale on April 25, begins with a teenage girl in an olive shirt throwing a punch at a girl in a pink shirt.
WITI reports that after the two exchanged blows, both girls called their mothers to explain what happened. The girls reportedly got into a fight over a broken cell phone.
But the incident took a surprising turn when the mother of one of the girls swerved her vehicle in front of the bus and allegedly began banging on the bus door with a hammer. Police later identified the mother as 33-year-old Magan Gumbus.
The bus driver placed a call to dispatch for guidance while continuing to drive.
“This parent has got a hammer at my door. This lady crazy,” the driver reportedly told the dispatcher.
When Gumbus cut off the bus a second time, she allegedly banged the hammer again and broke the glass.
“I cannot let nobody off this bus. I cannot let nobody off this bus,” the bus driver said.
Gumbus’s daughter suddenly began screaming to let her off the bus, using a broom out of desperation to break open a window. Although the bus driver initially refused to stop, she eventually obliged.
Gumbus told police she “had a meltdown” because the driver would not let her daughter off the bus. She added that her intent was not to hurt any kids on board the vehicle.
The Nicolet School District and the bus company, GO Riteway, released a joint statement Tuesday addressing the incident:
The Nicolet School District and GO Riteway have a shared commitment to ensure student safety. Immediately following the incident on April 25 the District talked to the families of every student on the bus to ensure they had been dropped off at home safely. The bus driver responded according to GO Riteway’s established safety protocols. Not knowing the intent of the individual pursuing the bus, the driver followed instructions from the GO Riteway Road Safety Supervisor to continue driving in order to protect the wellbeing of the students on the bus.
Gumbus was charged with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct, and the two teenage girls got issued citations for disorderly conduct.