School Bus Video Shows Agent Firing Gun at Suspect, Bus Driver Calming Students

Trumbull, CT
Two weeks after a police shooting on Old Town Road that was witnessed by dozens of students on a Frenchtown School bus, school Transportation Director Dawn Perkins is still awed by the calm demeanor and quick actions of bus driver Ralph Cerulo.

"He was thinking about the kids the entire time," Perkins said.

Perkins recently allowed the Trumbull Times to view video footage from two Trumbull school buses that were at the scene when federal agents attempted to capture Jeffrey Thomas, 21, who had earlier fled police looking into gang-related activity in the area.

Video from Cerulo's bus shows him approaching the front gate of the Eaves Trumbull complex, formerly known as Avalon Gates, and pulling over to allow a student to board. As the bus is stopped, about a dozen cars speed past, the last two swerving over the yellow lines to pass the bus as Cerulo pulls away.

Cerulo then arrives at Eaves, and students begin piling onto the bus. The camera then shows two vehicles stop alongside the bus, just a few feet away, and an agent exit the closest car. At that point, and with several students still outside the bus, the first shot rings out and the agent on camera visibly flinches.

"You can't tell who fired that first shot, but if the suspect fired at the agent, and it looks like that's what happened, then the bus was definitely in the line of fire," Perkins said.

The students don't show much reaction to the first shot, perhaps not understanding what it was. The agent then runs the length of the bus, and the camera shows him firing three times at a fleeing car.

After a few seconds, a student says "Oh, my God" and another shouts "A robber!" A moment later, another student whispers "Get down."

At that point, with the last students aboard and the bus's door closed, Cerulo says in a calm but urgent voice, "Everybody sit down." A few seconds later, as several children begin to scream and cry, he repeats the request, saying "Everybody sit down, please."

Perkins said his calm decisiveness was impressive.