A bullet ripped through the roof front of a school bus transporting children home Monday in East Harlem after the vehicle was caught in a drive-by shooting, police said.
A gunman opened fire on East 127th Street near Fifth Avenue at around 4:20 p.m. and one of the shots pierced the top of the yellow bus, cops said.
Ten kids from Choir Academy of Harlem were sitting inside, but luckily, none of them was injured.
“It’s terrifying,” said parent Eric Marrelo. “I ran over here when I heard to make sure it’s not my kid. That’s real scary.”
The Department of Education said police and the EMS responded to the scene.
“Bullets did hit the bus, students were on board, nobody was hurt,” Department of Education spokeswoman Margie Feinberg said. “Parents were notified. Students were taken home by a replacement bus.”
The children were between the ages of 5 and 10 years old.
Witnesses said the gunman unleashed a barrage of shots while he drove by in a blue pickup truck.
“It was probably a series of four or five shots, a pause, then a series of three or four,” said Dove Clark, 46, who lives across the street. “It wasn’t all rapid. It was like ‘pop, pop, pop.’ They weren’t screaming.”
A woman from a nearby office was in disbelief that a shooting happened so close to the school.
“I thought those sounded like gunshots, but with the kids getting out of school, it couldn’t be,” said the woman, who declined to give her name.
It was unclear who the intended target was.
The pickup truck sped away on East 127th Street.
Cops were searching for the gunman late Monday night.