ASD considers active shooter training for bus drivers

The Anchorage School District could soon see its drivers take part in active shooter training.

"We're going to move hopefully towards that in the future," said Heather Philp, Transportation Supervisor for the ASD.

Wednesday, David Aaron Lee was arrested after Anchorage Police say he rammed his car into an ASD bus before getting out of his car and threatening the bus driver then fleeing the scene on foot. Five children and two adults were on board the bus at the time of the crash.

"We received a radio call at about 8:50 this morning. The driver of the bus said we needed to call APD. She said a driver was ramming the bus and told us where she was. She said everyone was safe on the bus but she needed 911 right away," said Philp.

Using information provided by the bus attendant, APD was able to quickly respond and set up a perimeter to help catch the suspect.

"A vehicle was seen leaving the area with somebody in the vehicle that looked similar to the description that we were getting. We stopped that vehicle, got them out, contacted them and ultimately identified both people in that car as persons of interest that we want to talk to. We had officers that we able to ID the person as the suspect involved. We've got that person in custody," said Police Sergeant Shaun Henry.

While the investigation is still underway, Sgt. Henry said that the incident appeared intentional but there's no way of knowing if the bus or someone on it was targeted or if the bus was hit because it was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"There were several adults on the bus that were threatened and very afraid," said Sgt. Henry.

Afraid, but also alive, because according to Philp the two person ASD bus team followed protocol. Earlier this school year, Philp said that a handful of the drivers received some A.L.I.C.E. (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate) training. Philp said that the district could soon include that same training for the entire fleet.

"We're looking into that bus component of the A.L.I.C.E. training," said Philp.