Edmond School Bus Driver Helps Break Up Attack Outside School

A school bus driver for Edmond Public Schools said he intervened when a woman attacked an employee at Summit Middle School.

Oklahoma County Sheriff Tommie Johnson said 31-year-old Nicole Sanders went to the school Wednesday morning to try to check out a student, who is a relative. But when the student became visibly disturbed upon seeing Sanders, school staff called her mother, who told the school not to release the child to Sanders, Johnson said.

Sanders was told to leave the building, Johnson said. But bodycam video showed that the suspect then attacked a staff member outside the school entrance. The suspect appeared to be pulling on the victim's hair while the victim was on the ground, according to the video.

School bus driver Larry Cox said he had just dropped off a new student who had missed the bus. After walking the girl into the main office, he noticed the commotion.

"While I was in the office, I heard this blood-curdling scream," Cox said. "I rushed quickly over to those two and the first thing I noticed is that (the suspect) had both hands full of hair and was twisting her around like a rag doll."

Cox said his immediate instinct was to break the assault up.

"I knew I could take care of the situation," said Cox. "I had self-defense training."'

Bodycam video showed Cox appearing to press the suspect against the building while a deputy arrived.

"There was a little bit of an indentation in the wall in the brick and I got her back in there, and I just put an arm bar on her and my whole weight against her, and she gave up," Cox recalled.

After the deputy led the suspect away, she pushed away from him and put her hands on the deputy while ignoring commands, prompting him to deploy his stun gun on her, according to the bodycam video. The suspect was then arrested.

Cox said the school employee who was attacked hugged him the next day.

"It was one of the most heartfelt thank-you's for, she said, 'saving her life,'" Cox recalled. "Bus drivers are there for whatever's needed out of us and it can be more than driving a school bus."

The Oklahoma County Sheriff's Office said Sanders also claimed she left bombs around Summit Middle School. But the bomb squad did not find any explosives. She was booked into the Oklahoma County Detention Center on six complaints: assault and battery on a police officer, assault and battery upon a school employee, devising a plan to cause serious bodily harm or death, disturbing the peace, reckless driving, and assault and battery upon an emergency medical care provider.