Richland 2 calls emergency meeting to mull improving bus security after hijacking

Richland 2 school board will hold an emergency meeting Friday to discuss increasing security following a Thursday bus hijacking by an armed man, an official said.

The Friday meeting will include an executive session discussion — meaning the discussions will be closed to the public — on potentially adding security personnel or devices to school buses, according to the agenda. Under S.C. law, no votes can be taken during executive session.

The moves comes after a trainee at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C. escaped the base Thursday morning with an unloaded rifle and hijacked a bus with 18 Forest Lake Elementary students. U.S. Army officials said the trainee was not trying to hurt anyone, but rather was trying to escape from basic training.

The meeting will take place at the Richland 2 Institute of Innovation (R2i2), at 763 Fashion Drive, at 4 p.m. The meeting will be followed by a press conference, according to a release from the school district. The meeting will also be streamed live at http://www.richland2.org/livestream

This story was originally published May 6, 2021 at 3:39 PM.