Man charged in shooting of school bus driver on I-35W
Updated: 4:15 p.m. | Posted: 1:17 p.m.
A St. Paul man has been charged with attempted murder for shooting a Minneapolis school bus driver following a freeway collision on Tuesday.
Kenneth Lilly, 31, faces attempted second-degree murder and second-degree assault charges. He is scheduled to be in court Friday.
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The charges say Lilly shot the bus driver, wounding him in the arm and grazing his head when Lilly approached the bus and fired through the windshield. Lilly later called 911 to report the shooting. An 8-year-old girl on the bus was not injured.
Prosecutors say the bus driver was trying to navigate the Interstate 35W-Interstate 94 interchange in poor weather when the bus apparently scraped Lilly's car.
In traffic camera video, the bus appears to be moving as Lilly is walking around, but Chief Deputy Hennepin County Attorney David Brown said the shooting appears unprovoked.
"We do not believe there was a self-defense claim based upon the evidence we have received so far," Brown said. "The words to describe what went on here, we almost run out of ways to describe this. It is just horrific."
Lilly was wearing a security guard's uniform at the time of the shooting. Brown says he doesn't know where the man works, but said he is not a licensed peace officer.
In a statement, the Hennepin County Attorney's Office said:
Near the interstate split, Lilly stopped his car in the lane of traffic and got out and walked towards the bus. A truck between the two vehicles pulled into the next lane and left.
Lilly kept walking until he got to the passenger door of the bus and tried to get into the bus, according to the complaint.
The driver told Lilly he could not come in because there was a child onboard. Video showed Lilly walking toward the front driver's side corner as the bus appeared to slowly pull into traffic.
Lilly then walked to the driver's side of the bus where he pulled out his 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol from its holster.
He then walked back to the front of the bus and fired five shots at the bus windshield, the complaint states.
After shooting, Lilly walked to the driver's side of the bus and called 911. Lilly told officers that he feared for his safety and that is why he shot at the bus driver.
However, the video footage showed the defendant had retreated to a safe spot before walking in front of the bus and shooting, according to the complaint.