Police investigating school bus crash on I-285 in DeKalb County

Some terrifying moments Monday afternoon for a bus full of middle children which were involved in a crash on Interstate 285 in DeKalb County.

The accident happened in the southbound lanes of I-285 near Glenwood Road around 3:40 p.m. DeKalb County Police said the school bus was hit from behind by a big rig.

“And it like hit like boom like really hard,” said Jada Philbot, who was on the school bus.

The eighth-grader was one of 19 students on board the bus. Authorities said eight vehicles total were involved in the accident.

“It was an 18-wheeler truck, hit our bus like in the back of the bus and it was like boom like really loud,” said Jada Philbot.

School officials said the bus originated at Champion Theme Middle School and was headed to another school to drop students off to be picked up by their parents. Instead, many parents drove to a nearby flea market parking lot to pick up their children from another bus which brought them there from the accident scene.

“She called me she was kind of shaken up a little bit but I just want to make sure she’s OK so I’m gonna get her checked out,” said Sharrelle Philbot, Jada’s mother.

Original reports by the school district indicated eight students were transported to an area hospital by ambulance. DeKalb County Fire and Rescue said, in fact, there was only one student transferred to the hospital by ambulance with some parents opting to take their children to the hospital as well.

“There was a decision whether or not the parents should take the children to the hospital to be observed and checked out or not that decision was based solely on the parents,” said Captain Eric Jackson with DeKalb County Fire and Rescue.

Captain Jackson said all the injuries were minor with no broken bones or bleeding.

For Jada Philbot, it’s a big relief after a scary experience.

“And I hope everyone gets home safely and make sure they’re good,” said Jada Philbot.

DeKalb County Police said their Traffic Specialist Unit will investigate the crash to determine if anyone will face charges.