School Bus Driver Charged in Deadly Chattanooga Crash

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.— The driver of a school bus that was filled with elementary students when it crashed in Chattanooga, killing at least five children, has been arrested and faces charges including vehicular homicide.Calling the Monday afternoon cras...

In this photo provided by the Chattanooga Fire Department via Chattanooga Times Free Press, Chattanooga Fire Department personnel work the scene of a fatal elementary school bus crash in Chattanooga, Tenn., Monday, Nov. 21, 2016. In a news conference Monday, Assistant Chief Tracy Arnold said there were multiple fatalities in the crash. Bruce Garner/Chattanooga Fire Department via Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.—The driver of a school bus that was filled with elementary students when it crashed in Chattanooga, killing at least five children, has been arrested and faces charges including vehicular homicide.

Calling the Monday afternoon crash “every public safety professional’s worst nightmare,” Chattanooga Police Chief Fred Fletcher told an overnight news conference that 24-year-old bus driver Johnthony Walker was charged with five counts of vehicular homicide. Walker was also charged with reckless driving and reckless endangerment.

Investigators were looking at speed “very, very strongly” as a factor in the crash, Fletcher said earlier.

Police said overnight that five children were killed in the crash. Earlier in the day, Hamilton County District Attorney Neal Pinkston told news outlets the crash killed six. The Associated Press was not immediately able to reach officials early Tuesday to clarify the discrepancy.

Chattanooga police chief Fred Fletcher, center, talks with the media at the scene of a fatal school bus wreck in Chattanooga, Tenn., Nov. 21, 2016.Angela Lewis Foster/Chattanooga Times Free Press via AP