Bus driver attacked with students on board; mother facing charges

PITTSBURGH — A woman is facing charges after a bus driver was attacked with students on board in Pittsburgh.

The school bus driver, who you can see being punched over and over again in surveillance video, is Shayla Harris, who was picking up students for her Propel Braddock Hills bus route on a recent snowy morning.

“It’s the everyday life of a bus driver… parents are just crazy,” she told Channel 11.

When she got to the next stop at East Hills and Wilner Drives, she was attacked while behind the wheel after police say Tachelle Day accused her of being five minutes late to pick up her daughter.

“She said I had her baby standing out in the cold. When she first came up to me, I was struggling to pull the brake,” Harris said.

Harris’ first thought was to keep her students safe.

“What was going through my mind was to secure the bus, so that we didn’t drive into anything... to get her off the bus,” she added.

In surveillance video, you can see Day pull open the bus doors, spill her coffee, and start to attack Harris. She then continues to punch her repeatedly.

There were several kids already on board the bus, and you can hear the screams and chaos in the background.

“Everybody could have lost their lives that day becuase I was five minutes late. Very traumatizing. Most of the parents I’ve spoken with were very upset that this happened,” she said.

Harris’s son also rides that bus — and had fallen asleep, until he heard his mother’s screams. He woke up, and the video shows him jumping on Day’s back.

According to police, two adults and Harris’s son had to pull Day off of her, then off of the bus.

Tonight, Harris is thankful she and her students are okay.

“Please be patient with the bus drivers. It’s cold out here. We are doing our best every single day. Nobody deserves this or anything like this to happen to them.”

After the attack, Harris was treated for a concussion at Shadyside Hospital. After recovering for a week, she’s back to work, but has been assigned to a different route.

There is a warrant for Day’s arrest.

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