Former Army trainee who hijacked school bus found not guilty by reason of insanity

In May 2021, Fort Jackson officials said Collazo hijacked a school bus in Forest Acres at gunpoint. There were 18 students on board.

Officials said Collazo had been at the post for three weeks at that time.

“As we were traveling, I guess he realized there were several students on the bus -- kind of scattered throughout,” Kenneth Corbin, a South Carolina bus driver, told “Good Morning America.” “He decided to move all the students up front so he could keep us all in close proximity, and when he did that, especially some of my kindergarteners, they started asking questions.”

The students, according to Corbin, asked if the man was a soldier to which he “hesitantly answered -- ‘yes.’”

“They asked him, ‘Why are you doing this?’ He never did have an answer for this one. They asked, was he going to hurt them? He said ‘No.’ They asked, ‘Are you going to hurt our bus driver?’ He said, ‘No. I’m going to put you off the bus,’” Corbin recalled. “He sensed more questions coming and I guess something clicked in his mind and he said, ‘Enough is enough already,’ and he told me to ‘Stop the bus, and just get off.’”

Collazo was charged with 19 counts of kidnapping, armed robbery, carjacking, pointing and presenting a firearm, use of a weapon during a violent crime and unlawful carry of a weapon on school property, according to WOLO.

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WOLO reported that Collazo also attempted an escape from Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center while in custody.

The spokesperson told WOLO that Collazo would be taken to a mental health facility for further treatment

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