Special needs student forces way off school bus, found wandering freeway

Officer says student was found in middle of highway

HOUSTON – Officials said they are trying to determine how a special needs student forced his way off a school bus Friday morning near downtown Houston.

According to a statement from the Houston Independent School District, the bus was taking three students a driver, an aide and a nurse to Avondale House about 7:15 a.m., when one of the students was able to exit the bus on the Eastex Freeway near Hirsch Road.

Houston police said the 14-year-old boy ran backwards through traffic to an on ramp and ended up on Interstate 45 near the Dallas Street exit.

Police said Officer J.C. Best later found the teen wandering the freeway about a mile from where he left the bus, and was able to get him into his cruiser.

"He was walking in the middle of the freeway, and I recognized him based on the description that they were giving," Best said. "He seemed very scared, but he was very safe and he was OK."

Police said the boy escaped the school bus through the front door, so they are trying to determine how that happened.

Although he was not injured, the boy was taken to Texas Children's Hospital for a check-up.