Hero school bus driver credits students with getting hijacker to let them off the bus
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The heroic South Carolina bus driver who kept his calm when an Army trainee carrying a rifle hijacked his bus said the elementary students were the real heroes of the situation.
"At the very end, the kids were the one who got the gentlemen off the bus. They pretty much had my back as much as my concern was for them," Kenneth Corbin said in an interview with GMA's Robin Roberts on Monday morning.
Corbin was driving his normal bus route earlier this month when Jovan Collazo, 23, ran onto the bus and pointed a rifle at Corbin.
WATCH: Army trainee hijacks South Carolina school bus with kids on board
Collazo demanded Corbin start driving to the next town.
On board with the two adults, were 18 school children.
"In the end, I think we only rode about 4 miles and he just got frustrated with the questions (from the children) and just told me to stop the bus and get off," Corbin said. "From that point, seemed like he sensed more questions coming. It seemed like--I guess something clicked on his mind and said 'enough is enough already,' and he just told me to stop the bus."
The whole ordeal lasted around six minutes. Collazo then forced Corbin and all of the students off the bus. None of them were injured.
Collazo was eventually arrested on dozens of charges, including 19 counts of kidnapping.
As for Corbin, South Carolina officials honored him Friday with an award for his heroic ability to remain calm under extreme pressure.
