The Carson City Sheriff's Office has released new details about a man accused of boarding a school bus with a gun including the arrest of a school bus driver.
On Wednesday, September 14, 2022, James Blueberg was an employee of the Carson City School District and driving a Carson City school bus occupied with Bordewich Bray Elementary students.
Shortly, after arriving at Bordewich Bray Elementary School, a motorist, identified as Michael Baxter approached the driver window of the school bus and made allegations of misconduct against some of the children on the bus.
Mr. Blueberg acknowledged Mr. Baxter’s complaint and then allows him to enter the bus to identify the children responsible for the misconduct.
Mr. Baxter addresses multiple children and confronts a child who raised his hand, claiming responsibility for the misconduct.
Mr. Blueberg sat in the driver seat of the bus, while Mr. Baxter stood in the stairwell of the bus, where he prevented students from exiting as he reprimanded the 4th grade student.
The sheriff's office says As Mr. Baxter reprimanded the child, Mr. Blueberg, says, “What are you doing? Do you want to get your head caved in?” Mr. Baxter then directs the child’s attention to his right hip by tapping his holster and saying, “You see this? This is a gun!”.
Mr. Blueberg allows Mr. Baxter to continue while the child cries and Mr. Baxter tells him, “People shoot people for these kind of things".
Mr. Blueberg cooperated with the investigation and was interviewed on Thursday, September 15, 2022.
On Friday, September 16, 2022, Mr. Blueberg met with Carson City Sheriff’s Office Detectives at the Carson City Sheriff’s Office where he was arrested on the following charges:
Child Endangerment N.R.S. 200.508
Threatening a Student N.R.S. 392.915.2.B
Mr. Blueberg’s was booked into the Carson City Detention Center without incident. His bail is $40,000.00.
Michael Baxter was arrested and later booked at the Carson City Detention Center on the following charges:
The Carson City School District released this statement:
School administrators were informed Thursday that an unauthorized person of interest boarded a student-occupied school bus with a holstered handgun. The isolated incident occurred Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022, at one of the elementary schools.
District officials and school administrators continue to cooperate with local authorities in providing information related to the incident.
Families of students on the bus were not immediately notified of the incident so as to not hinder the Carson City Sheriff’s Office’s ability to apprehend the person(s) of interest. Upon further investigation, School Resource Officers (SROs) and detectives later identified and apprehended the individual, who is not employed by the school district.
The case remains under investigation, including as to how the individual gained access to the bus. The school district handles employee issues internally.
Employee disciplinary matters are confidential. However, district officials diligently follow-up on any allegation involving an employee of the district, with student safety as a paramount priority. The district is committed to taking all necessary steps to fully investigate allegations and to impose all appropriate employee discipline attendant to such allegations, if found to be true.
