A schoolboy narrowly escaped an assassination attempt after three masked attackers charged onto a school bus and fired a gun point-blank range.
The gun was used three times but it failed to fire during the incident which happened on Monday in Maryland, US, as students from Prince George’s County Alternative Middle School were being dropped off back home.
As the bus pulled up to let off a female student, three masked assailants charged on, with one armed with a gun.
Martin Diggs, head of the bus drivers’ union, told ABC 7, about the incident.
He said: “They pulled the trigger three times, but for some reason, by the grace of God, the gun didn’t go off and bullets flew out of the gun."
Investigators found three live rounds on the floor of the bus, the outlet reported.
Mr Digggs continued: “This was an attempted murder, plain and simple. Call it what it is."
The armed member of the suspected hit squad aimed their gun at the boy's head but it misfired. The three instead starting beating up the boy before fleeing.
An onboard CCTV captured the attempted shooting.
Mr Diggs called for more security on buses in the wake of the incident.
He said the driver and aide on the bus were left shaken, having been left believing they could have been killed as well if the gun hadn't misfired. They were not physically attacked.
He said: “They’re terrified. The one driver doesn’t even want to come back to work. They are terrified. They don’t even want to come out of the house."
Police are still looking into the motive behind the attempted shooting.
Investigations by the Prince George’s County Police Department continue but so far no arrests have been made.
Charoscar Coleman, the Associate Superintendent of Prince George’s County Public Schools, urged anyone who knows anything about the attack to report it to the police.
“We are outraged as a district. Horrified that this incident did occur,” Mr Coleman said.
The school will not be releasing video of the incident.
The extent of the boy's injuries are not known.
Mr Coleman continued: “Our priority remains providing a safe and orderly environment for our students. That is during school and also to and from school."
Yesterday a mum was killed and her baby daughter left fighting for her life after the car they were travelling in collided with a school bus.
The accident happened on Long Island Express Drive South in Yaphank, New York State, on Thursday, local police said.
The woman in her 30s was travelling northbound when the Nissan vehicle crashed into a mini-bus at an intersection.
The mum was pronounced dead at the scene with the baby girl, aged between one and 18 months, being rushed to hospital in critical condition, the paper reported.
A witness said: "A horrific crash involving a mini school bus and Nissan here in Yaphank…a mother in her 30’s is dead…her one year old baby clinging to life"
