An off-duty Baltimore County, Md. auxiliary police officer jumped into action after an unattended school bus ran into a child at a bus stop Monday morning.
Officer Matthew Knight was at his full-time job at a property management company in Prince George's County when he saw the bus rolling toward a group of students across from High Point High School in Beltsville, according to WMAR-TV.
"I looked up at the bus driver to make eye contact and there wasn't one," he told the news station. "There was nobody behind the wheel."
Knight yelled for the children to get out of the way, but one of them was unable to move in time.
He ran to the aid of the 8-year-old boy who was trapped between the bus's front axle and the ground. Knight said the boy was kicking and screaming.
The off-duty officer was able to pull the boy out and assess his condition while waiting for medics to arrive. In that moment, he said his training kicked in.
"They teach you, when you're in situations like that and things happen you don't have time to think. You just react and the training takes over from there."
The boy was rushed to a local hospital and has since been released. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Prince George's County police officials say the driver of the bus, Arturo Harris, had stopped to use the bathroom at the high school and faces reckless endangerment charges.
