4 injured as school bus crashes, tips over in Coweta County

Four people suffered minor injuries after a Coweta County school bus carrying two students crashed and rolled onto its side Thursday afternoon, district officials said.

The wreck occurred just before 12:15 p.m. at the intersection of Ga. 154 and Woolsie Road, Coweta County School System spokesman Dean Jackson said.

Two students, the bus driver and a bus monitor were headed back to East Coweta High School from a nearby Goodwill store when the wreck occurred, he said.

The bus was traveling south on Ga. 154 when the driver came across a collision involving two other students who had just left the high school, according to Jackson.

As the bus driver approached the intersection, the force from the rear-end collision pushed the student’s car into the path of the school bus, the Georgia State Patrol said. The bus driver veered right to avoid the car, which struck the bus anyway, knocking it onto its side.

“The bus driver couldn’t correct and the bus ended up on its side,” Jackson said.

The two students, the bus driver and the bus monitor suffered minor scrapes and bruises and were taken to Piedmont Newnan Hospital as a precaution, police said. The two students have since been released.

One of the students in the other wreck also reported minor injuries, Jackson said. They were also taken to the hospital.

Police identified the driver of the school bus as 59-year-old Kathy Denise Wheeler. The 17-year-old student who allegedly caused the wreck, identified as Sadie Jewell Buckalew, was charged with following too closely.

The intersection was shut down for about two hours as police investigated.

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