Thursday, March 6, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
A 17-year-old boy has been arrested by Clark County School District Police on a charge of shooting at a school bus carrying 35 Swainston Middle School students.
According to school police spokesman Ken Young, the suspect and a male student had exchanged words "either over a girl or something along those lines" Wednesday morning at a bus stop at the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Helen Street.
Young said the suspect walked with some other students to the bus stop, and the argument between the two young men occurred before the students got onto the bus.
The suspected shooter then fired at the bus three times about 7:20 a.m. One shot hit the bus, striking a rear taillight. A small-caliber gun, which has not been found, was used in the shooting.
No injuries were reported.
The shooter fled on foot.
The intended victim -- the student the suspect had earlier argued with -- and the girl the two were allegedly arguing over were on the bus, Young said.
The suspect was not a student nor a graduate of the school district.
Information supplied to school police by students, the bus driver and area residents led to the arrest about four hours later. Young said the suspect was arrested at his home without incident.
"The students have been very helpful in providing information (about the shooting)," Young said. "They were very cooperative."
The suspect, whose name was not released by police, was booked as a juvenile and charged with two felonies, assault with a deadly weapon and firing or discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle; one misdemeanor, discharging a firearm within city limits; and one gross misdemeanor, firing or discharging a weapon into an occupied vehicle.
North Las Vegas Police assisted school police with the initial call, but the investigation and arrest were handled by school police.
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