NEW ORLEANS -- A New Orleans man faces serious charges after allegedly boarding a school bus with a gun and threatening to shoot students.
The incident took place Friday afternoon – several hours after the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
According to arrest records, 29-year-old Keith Petit allegedly boarded a New Orleans school bus, which carried middle school students, with a gun and threatened the children on board.
Petit threatened to shoot everyone on the bus if they “messed with” his family member, a student who was on board the bus at the time. Petit’s alleged threats reportedly caused the children to “scream out of fear.” while also shouting that Petit had a gun.
He was charged with extortion, aggravated assault and illegal carrying of a weapon, according to booking records.
WDSU-TV reports that Petit never boarded the bus and the driver followed safety protocol.
During a hearing in Orleans Criminal Court Tuesday, District Judge Gerard Hansen set bail at $75,000. Judge Hansen, referring to the Connecticut school shootings, made sure Petit understood the seriousness of his actions.
Hansen told Petit, "Your timing is terrible. You get on a school bus with a gun after everything that is going on in this country? Your timing couldn't be worse."
Tuesday, officials with the New Orleans Public School Systems said an adult monitor has been assigned to the bus route for the rest of this week.
In an emailed statement, officials wrote, "In light of this incident and the horrible tragedy in Connecticut, we are evaluating our school safety plans at all schools and on all bus routes. We take student safety very seriously and are working to make sure that we have the procedures in place to keep our students and staff safe."
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Thursday, December 20th 2012 at 10:58PM
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