Warrant: Stray bullet injured school bus driver in north Minneapolis

A stray bullet from a gunfight between two suspects ended up striking a bus driver who was transporting three children last week in north Minneapolis, a search warrant shows.

The bus driver was shot in the head Wednesday around 2:15 p.m. near 37th and Girard avenues north and was released from the hospital by Friday afternoon. None of the children aboard the bus were harmed.

The victim told police two people with guns had stopped their vehicles in front of the bus and that both suspects fired their weapons.

Police were able to find one of the suspects, who was driving in a black Chevrolet Impala with his son that afternoon. The suspect told investigators someone inside a black Dodge Challenger had brandished a gun, and he reacted by pulling the Impala over. The driver of the Challenger then got out, pointed a gun at him and fired one round.

The suspect in the Impala said he then pulled out his own handgun and fired one shot “in an upward direction” before leaving the scene. He then went to his relative’s home to deposit the 9 mm handgun “for safekeeping.” After speaking with the suspect, police retrieved the gun from his relative.

Police said the suspect does not have a permit to carry a firearm in public. He did not call 911 after the shooting, either.

The suspect did tell police he was “remorseful” for the shooting, the warrant states.

The Impala was towed to a Minneapolis Police Department forensic lot, and the warrant requested a search of that vehicle for firearms, ammunition, papers, photos and cell phones. Police also wanted to process the vehicle for fingerprints and DNA evidence. However, the unsealed search warrant shows police did not recover any of the items they were looking for.

As of Monday afternoon, police say no arrests have been made in this case.