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Mom says bus driver behind fatal crash was 'terrified,' tried to get children off bus

Johnthony Walker

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The mother of a Tennessee school bus driver who lost control of his bus and crashed, killing at least five of his young passengers, has asked for compassion for her son, who she said attempted to help the students after the crash.

[READ: Police say speed was likely a factor in bus crash that killed 5 students]

Gwenevere Cook told CNN on Tuesday that her son, 24-year-old Johnthony Walker, called her after Monday's crash and told her he'd been in a "drastic accident" and tried to explain what happened before officers on the scene confiscated his cell phone.

"When he talked to me, he was terrified," Cook told CNN.

She stated that her son told her he'd tried to get some of the children off of the bus but that the “bodies were limp” and “there was blood everywhere.” He later texted her that “the kids (were) dead.”

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Cook offered condolences to the victims' families and asked the public for compassion for her son, who she said worked two jobs to help support his 3-year-old son.

"It is a horrible nightmare," she told CNN. "I feel bad for my son, and I am torn up for the (victims') family members."

It was less than 24 hours before the Thanksgiving break when Walker, who was driving 37 students from Woodmore Elementary School, lost control of the bus and smashed into a mailbox before over-correcting and flipping the bus, which slammed into a tree. The force of the crash nearly sheared the bus in two.

Children’s Hospital at Erlanger said they received 31 patients from the single-vehicle crash. Five students, four girls and one boy, were killed. Three of the victims were in fourth-grade, one in first-grade and one in kindergarten.

Breakdown of students

  • 37 on board the bus
  • 5 killed: 4 girls and 1 boy
  • 12 in hospital; 6 in critical condition and 6 stable
  • 19 treated and released

Of the students taken to the hospital, 19 were treated and released. Twelve remain in the hospital Tuesday.

Walker, who an arrest affidavit said was driving “well above the posted speed limit of 30 mph,” is charged with five counts of vehicular homicide, reckless endangerment and reckless driving. He is being held in the Hamilton County Jail in lieu of $107,500 bond.

Cox Media Group

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