A student was being sought Tuesday morning after the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said he fired a Gel Blaster gun at the driver of a school bus heading to Bullard High School.
(Story was updated at 10:37 p.m. to revise the type of gun. The Sheriff’s Office initially reported the gun was an Airsoft.)
The incident happened at 8:13 a.m. near the intersection of West Sierra Avenue and North Warren Avenue, sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti said.
The gel pellet missed the driver and struck the windshield, Botti said. After the driver pulled over and stopped the bus, the teen jumped out of a window and ran away, he said.
The sheriff’s office was trying to locate and identify the student who is a suspect in the incident, he said.
Fresno Unified School District’s safety team is investigating, and the district had no information to release by mid-morning, district spokeswoman AJ Kato said.
According to Fresno Unified board policy, students who are in possession of an imitation firearm are subject to suspension or expulsion.
Gel ball blasters, which are similar to Airsoft guns, are toy guns that fire gel or water beads, using compressed air.
Botti said the sheriff’s office and Fresno Police Department were trying to determine which agency has jurisdiction in the investigation.
