SPOKANE, Wash. — For the last two weeks, the Freeman community has shared their victim impact statements as part of the school shooter's sentencing. On Wedndesday, the judge heard a statement from the bus driver who took the shooter to school on the morning of Sept. 13, 2017.
We know from Spokane County court documents that Caleb Sharpe brought several guns with him in a golf bag on the bus to school.
In a statement read by a victim's advocate, the driver of that bus told the judge she will never forget that day.
She said in the days, weeks and months following the shooting, Freeman families seemed to doubt her ability to keep their children safe.
The shooter rode her bus the day of the shooting, but the driver was unaware of his plans. That morning, she asked him to store his golf bag in the under compartment of the bus, not knowing what was in that bag.
She told the judge after the shooting that she felt shunned by Freeman parents. She explained how difficult this was for her.
"Had I really been reduced to 'that bus driver'?," she wrote. "Did these parents really think I would in any way jeopardize their children's safety? I wanted to stand up in that gym and tell every single one of the parents and community members that I did my job that day. I safely picked up and delivered their children to school. I patiently enforced the rules that morning in making him put his bag in the cargo compartment under the bus."
The bus driver previously testified in court for the shooter's declination hearing. That hearing determined Sharpe would be tried as an adult. She told the judge when she took the stand that day and saw the shooter's expressionless face, it sent waves of hot anger through her veins.
We are nearing the end of hearing victim impact statements from the Freeman community. Court will resume for a final day of statements Thursday morning.