Student speaks out after train clips school bus in incident caught on camera
A Florida student is speaking out after a train clipped the school bus she was riding in with 28 other students, in an incident caught on camera.
"I think I'm just gonna be, like, more stressed and have higher anxiety whenever [I'm] on the bus [in the future]," Cheyenne Gant, 12, told ABC News in an interview that aired Wednesday on "Good Morning America."
Video captured by bystander Emma Steuer on April 2 shows a train hurtling through a railroad crossing in Sumter County, clipping the back end of a yellow school bus in the process.
Another video, filmed inside the bus and shared on TikTok, captured the terrified screams of students who were riding the bus at the time.
"[The bus driver], like, stopped on the track specifically and then didn't move whenever we were all yelling, 'Train!'" Cheyenne said, speaking with ABC News. "And it was very scary in the moment."
The school bus driver, Yvonne Hampton, was arrested and charged with 29 counts of felony child neglect without great bodily harm, one count of culpable negligence, and one count of reckless driving, according to Sumter County Sheriff Pat Breeden.
In an April 6 press conference, Breeden said, "Trains don't sneak up on people, folks. And that's what led to this arrest. Poor judgment that placed children at risk."
According to an arrest report, Hampton told police there was a car at the railroad crossing and she was waiting for the car to move. She claimed that after the car began to move, she began to drive the bus over the tracks, but the car then stopped. Hampton claimed she had to stop the bus where it was parked in the video clip.
"Upon asking the defendant if at any time she stopped on the tracks, the defendant replies 'no,'" the responding officer stated in the report. "She then informed me that as she was moving over the tracks the railroad crossing warning system activated."
The responding officer said in the report that they reviewed audio and video from the incident, which they said contradicted Hampton's account.
According to the officer, "onboard audio/video footage" allegedly showed the bus approaching the railroad crossing and a silver car stopping at the stop sign on the other side of the tracks. As the railroad crossing warning lights activated and the crossing arms began to lower, Hampton could allegedly be heard saying, "Not gonna stop for no train," and driving forward over the tracks.
"Based on the video evidence, it is clear the defendant made the decision to cross the railroad tracks after she saw the railroad warning system activate; thus, through culpable negligence, the defendant neglected each child and exposed the adult bus aid to possible injury," the officer wrote.
There were "no serious bodily injury that was reported" in connection with the incident, according to the arrest report.
Hampton was placed under arrest and was subsequently transported to the Sumter County Detention Center, according to the report. She is currently out on bond.
Sumter County School District Superintendent Logan Brown also released a statement in an April 6 Facebook post and said the bus driver involved in the incident was no longer employed by the school district.
Cheyenne's mom Tiffany Gant told ABC News that Hampton's alleged actions could have cost not only her daughter's life but the lives of the other young kids on the bus that day.
"She's my only daughter, so it's somebody that she could have taken out of the world along with 28 other children that could do great things to the world," Gant said.
