'Are y'all ready to die?' Chattanooga bus driver asked

[brassmonkey]

Parents in Chattanooga, Tenn., are still trying to make sense of the tragedy that struck their community Monday when a school bus with 35 children aboard struck a tree, killing five and injuring nearly two dozen more.


The driver, Johnthony Walker, 24, was arrested and charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving for the crash on the winding road.

As the city mourns, chilling reports have emerged alleging that Walker asked the students, "Are y'all ready to die?" before swerving off the road into a tree.

Jasmine Mateen, the mother of three children aboard the bus, lost her 6-year-old daughter in the crash. She told CBS News what one of her other children had to say about the driver.

"My daughter said right before the bus flipped that he was speeding around the curve and asked them 'Are y'all ready to die?'" Mateen said to CBS correspondent Mark Strassmann.

Booking photo of Johnthony Walker, driver of the school bus. (Photo: Chattanooga Police Department)

She also said she had complained about Walker's behavior many times since August, but nothing had been done to redress her grievances. The private bus company involved has had 36 crashes with injuries in Tennessee alone since 2014, the Tennessean newspaper reported.

Authorities have not confirmed Mateen's statements.

Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher said at a press conference late Monday that the type of accident to which his department and others were responding is "every public safety professional's worst nightmare."

"As bad as it is for the police officers, firefighters and paramedics working that crash and that investigation, we can't even begin to imagine how much worse it is for the families, the friends, the loved ones of the victims. All of our hearts go out to them," he said.

According to Fletcher, the Chattanooga Police Department received a call just after 3:30 p.m. asking it to respond to a school bus crash involving students from Woodmore Elementary School, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.

"This is an absolute nightmare for this community, for this police department and for our partners in fire and EMS," Fletcher said. "But I can assure you that the public safety professionals in Chattanooga are prepared and trained to make sure this is investigated thoroughly."

He said a warrant had been issued to remove the black box from the bus and to remove the video evidence for inspection.

Twenty-three students were taken to area hospitals, and 12 were still there as of Tuesday evening, with six in critical condition.

"Many of them were scared or too dazed to talk to us," Dr. Darvey Koller of the Children's Hospital at Erlanger said at a Tuesday news conference.

Police say Walker was driving well above the narrow road's 30 mph speed limit at the time of the crash. The incident has revived a debate about whether there should be a federal law requiring school buses to be equipped with seat belts.

article...

[onwebcam]

Had a feeling he did it on purpose. And why in the hell are they using a private company for drivers?

[lagwagon]

wtf kind of name is Johnthony?

[brassmonkey]

Originally Posted by lagwagon

wtf kind of name is Johnthony?

john and anthony??

[Bladewire]

The sherrif just had a live press conference and said this report is a lie and all of the children interviewed denied this was ever said.

One of the parents who had one child killed and 2 injured had in Augustvwritten a letter to the school board and one to the principal and called them telling them he would always spam on the breaks so the kids would spam on the seat in front of them. When confronted he said "so, and I'd do it again"

Fucked up

[TheDynasty]

That's some sad news!

[AMDWarrior]

Of course dindu kid lied..

[bronco67]

Johnthony....now I've heard it all.

[Google Expert]

He dindu nuffings. He a good boy.

[Google Expert]

Originally Posted by Bladewire

The sherrif just had a live press conference and said this report is a lie and all of the children interviewed denied this was ever said.

Lib media trying to cover up dindu crime. Nothing new.

[Bladewire]

Originally Posted by Google Expert

Lib media trying to cover up dindu crime. Nothing new.

Snowing in PA?

[rogueteens]

Originally Posted by bronco67

Johnthony....now I've heard it all.

until the next dindu

[Hannes]

he looks slightly high

[TCLGirls]

Originally Posted by onwebcam

Had a feeling he did it on purpose. And why in the hell are they using a private company for drivers?

Tenn is a conservative state. Conservatives always think private sector always does better than government.

[Rochard]

This is some seriously fucked up shit.

[NadXP]

Originally Posted by brassmonkey

Parents in Chattanooga, Tenn., are still trying to make sense of the tragedy that struck their community Monday when a school bus with 35 children aboard struck a tree, killing five and injuring nearly two dozen more.


The driver, Johnthony Walker, 24, was arrested and charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving for the crash on the winding road.

As the city mourns, chilling reports have emerged alleging that Walker asked the students, "Are y'all ready to die?" before swerving off the road into a tree.

Jasmine Mateen, the mother of three children aboard the bus, lost her 6-year-old daughter in the crash. She told CBS News what one of her other children had to say about the driver.

"My daughter said right before the bus flipped that he was speeding around the curve and asked them 'Are y'all ready to die?'" Mateen said to CBS correspondent Mark Strassmann.

Booking photo of Johnthony Walker, driver of the school bus. (Photo: Chattanooga Police Department)

She also said she had complained about Walker's behavior many times since August, but nothing had been done to redress her grievances. The private bus company involved has had 36 crashes with injuries in Tennessee alone since 2014, the Tennessean newspaper reported.

Authorities have not confirmed Mateen's statements.

Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher said at a press conference late Monday that the type of accident to which his department and others were responding is "every public safety professional's worst nightmare."

"As bad as it is for the police officers, firefighters and paramedics working that crash and that investigation, we can't even begin to imagine how much worse it is for the families, the friends, the loved ones of the victims. All of our hearts go out to them," he said.

According to Fletcher, the Chattanooga Police Department received a call just after 3:30 p.m. asking it to respond to a school bus crash involving students from Woodmore Elementary School, ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.

"This is an absolute nightmare for this community, for this police department and for our partners in fire and EMS," Fletcher said. "But I can assure you that the public safety professionals in Chattanooga are prepared and trained to make sure this is investigated thoroughly."

He said a warrant had been issued to remove the black box from the bus and to remove the video evidence for inspection.

Twenty-three students were taken to area hospitals, and 12 were still there as of Tuesday evening, with six in critical condition.

"Many of them were scared or too dazed to talk to us," Dr. Darvey Koller of the Children's Hospital at Erlanger said at a Tuesday news conference.

Police say Walker was driving well above the narrow road's 30 mph speed limit at the time of the crash. The incident has revived a debate about whether there should be a federal law requiring school buses to be equipped with seat belts.

article...

Terrible story...

[SantaClause]

You just need to look at his picture and you understand he is crazy.

[brassmonkey]

the 6th child died yesterday evening

[crockett]

Originally Posted by bronco67

Johnthony....now I've heard it all.

Dat African heritage tho

[crockett]

Originally Posted by SantaClause

You just need to look at his picture and you understand he is crazy.

I realized this long ago.. Black violence could easily be contained if other blacks would stay the fuck away from the nappy headed brothers. Every time a group of black guys get caught for a crime, usually 1 or 2 of them is a normal looking dude.. However every fucking time there is that one nappy headed fucker..

If you are black and there are 2 or 3 of you together, look around if one of you is a nappy headed mother fucker you are about to do something stupid...

[slapass]

Originally Posted by crockett

Dat African heritage tho

It is called creativity. Seriously, this board is so fucked up. The weird name becomes the focus?

[Evil Chris]

36 crashes since 2014?

That's an incredible stat if it's true. Since my son started school in 2008, I have not heard of even ONE school bus accident/incident at our school board. So 36 crashes is definitely a problem. We also have snow half the year.