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A Mansfield ISD bus driver is on leave while the district tries to determine if he fell asleep while driving students.
Video shot by a 10-year-old boy on the bus appears to show the school bus driver nodding off and looking sleepy and confused.
"He stopped in the middle of the road acted like he didn't know where he was or what to do,” said the boy’s father, Thomas Ferguson. "My son usually gets off the bus about 3:50 at 5 o'clock he still wasn't home."
The atmosphere on the bus gets more agitated as the kids are first surprised then scared by the driver’s actions. On the video you can hear someone say, “He's asleep, he's asleep.”
The kids then ask the driver why he won't move the bus and start calling their parents. One student dialed 911. The City of Mansfield and Mansfield ISD police arrived shortly after the calls along with the district's transportation officials.
“They had to force the bus doors open,” Ferguson said. "What is wrong with the bus driver? Was he drunk? Was he on drugs? Is this a health issue? Don't we have a right to answers?"
In a statement, Mansfield ISD would only say "appropriate steps will be taken regarding this matter if necessary” and “the bus driver has been placed on administrative leave.”
The district said it's committed to providing safe transportation to and from each student's destination and the district “does not condone any type of behavior that would violate that."
Mansfield police said the investigation is in the hands of Mansfield ISD police and the school district. The bus has its own cameras which the district is reviewing.