Nobody hurt when bullet from dropped firearm strikes Wasilla school bus carrying children

No one was injured after a school bus carrying six children was struck by a bullet from a dropped firearm Friday afternoon in Wasilla, in an incident that Alaska State Troopers said they determined was an accident.

The incident occurred just after 4:30 p.m. Friday in a residential area around Seldon Road, troopers spokesman Austin McDaniel said in an email Saturday.

An initial investigation found that “someone was transporting a 30.06 rifle from a camper into a residence when the firearm fell and accidentally discharged,” troopers said in an online report. “The bullet struck the windshield and then hit a seat before leaving the bus out of a side window.”

“None of the juveniles on the bus or the driver were struck by the bullet or injured in any way,” troopers said in the report.

McDaniel said troopers didn’t have information on where the bus was coming from or where it was headed, or what grade levels or school the bus served. Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District officials didn’t immediately respond Saturday to questions about the incident.

The school bus was located on the same road as the residence at the time the firearm went off, McDaniel said.

Troopers said their investigation was closed after they determined the firearm discharge had been a “non-criminal event.” When asked why the incident wasn’t considered criminal, McDaniel said that “it was determined that this was an accident.”