Editor’s Note: This story by John Lippman first appeared in the Valley News on Dec. 20.
Usually Dartmouth Coach passengers enjoy a leisurely and hassle-free ride between the Upper Valley and New York City but nerves were shaken on Friday when the bus they were traveling on was struck by a bullet that came through the windshield in Connecticut, police and Dartmouth Coach’s owner reported.
No one was injured in the Friday morning incident, which involved a single round penetrating the window of the Dartmouth Coach bus, Connecticut State Police confirmed in an email to the Valley News on Monday.
A 30-seat Dartmouth Coach bus that left Lebanon at 6:15 a.m. with about 20 passengers was stuck by a bullet as it was heading south on Interstate 91 at between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., said Ben Blunt, vice president at Dartmouth Coach.
The bullet entered “at the tip-top, right along the roof line of the windshield” and “came to rest on the floor, near the front of the bus,” Blunt said.
The bus driver pulled off at the first available exit where he met with Connecticut State Police officers who interviewed the driver and passengers, Blunt said.
Police said the investigation is continuing. The source of gunfire is unknown but Connecticut State Police received reports of gunfire exchanged between vehicles in the northbound lane of I-91 near New Haven around the time the Dartmouth Coach vehicle was struck on Friday morning.
Some reports attributed the gunfire to gang activity in the area.
Blunt said Dartmouth Coach made arrangements with another bus company in the area to obtain a replacement bus and after passengers were interviewed by police they were transferred to the other bus and the passengers continued on their way.
“It was just under two hours late arriving in New York,” Blunt said.
Initially, police said they might have to impound the bus as evidence but that didn’t happen, Blunt said.
Dartmouth Coach bought pizza for the passengers while they waited to be transferred onto the replacement bus and all bus fares were refunded in full, Blunt said, “for the inconvenience everyone had to go through.”