CONYERS, Ga. — A high school football player thought his teammates and coaches were dead after their bus overturned while on their way home from a game Friday night.
“I was just shocked because I also saw players jumping out of the windows too, so that’s how I knew it was something serious,” Kari Johnson told Channel 2’s Bryan Mims.
Johnson is a 14-year-old wide receiver and tight end for the Salem High School Seminoles in Conyers.
His mother gave Channel 2 Action News permission to interview him.
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Johnson was on one of three buses carrying the school’s football team, cheerleaders and coaches home from the game against Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross.
He said the bus the flipped had just exited eastbound Interstate 20 onto Highway 138.
“The bus, it was already going pretty fast like from the start,” Johnson said.
He said it appeared the bus never slowed down as it entered the intersection.
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The Georgia State Patrol said the driver, 74-year-old Walter Hackett, lost control of the bus, but it’s unclear why. It struck a Kia Soul, causing the bus to spin completely around and topple onto its side.
Johnson said most of the passengers crawled out of the bus through the emergency roof hatch. He spotted a girl on the ground.
“She was just sitting there, motionless. Everybody thought she was dead,” he said. “And then two other people – I’ve got two other friends – that were just lying there as well. Everyone was holding their leg. The other ones were just screaming. That’s when the parents started coming, cops started surrounding us. When I was looking at them, they were literally not moving at all. I was wondering if they were dead or gone.”
Rockdale County Public Schools officials said 22 students and three staff members went to several hospitals, with one of them flown in a helicopter.
As of Sunday afternoon, everybody except one person – a student – had been released. Johnson said the student who remained in the hospital is in a neck brace. He described the injuries as mostly cuts, bruises and road rash, with some passengers requiring stitches.
A district spokesperson said extra counselors will be available on campus Monday. Johnson said this Friday’s game is expected to be canceled to allow everyone to heal.
“I’ve just been kind of praying for my teammates, talking to them to get information, trying to see if they’re all right,” Johnson said. “I was just traumatized because I’ve never seen that, never been in this situation, I’ve never seen something like that.”
In an email, a Georgia State Patrol spokesperson said there were “no updates at this time” about the cause of the crash, which remains under investigation. “Our Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division has begun conducting their investigation of the bus to determine the cause as well.”
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