Youths mum on who shot at bus carrying students

A small amount of glass shattered on the inside and the outside of the bus. Photo / iStock

Three youths have been spoken to by police after a school bus was shot at in the Waikato town of Morrinsville.

Detective Sergeant Rod Carpinter said three youths - all aged under 17 - were shooting at targets at the back of their house when one of them decided to take a pot shot at a Greenline Motors school bus as it went past.

"We've got the BB gun and spoken to all three but they're not admitting who it was [who fired the shot]."

Police are continuing to investigate the incident, he said.

The bus had just picked up its final load of students from Morrinsville College for its afternoon drop-off when the incident happened.

Morrinsville College principal John Inger was pleased those responsible had been caught and were being dealt with by police.

"That's great that they have solved it, I just hope that it wasn't one of our own [students]."

Mr Inger said the person who fired the shot was "clearly someone irresponsible who didn't think about the potential danger for others and I'm just glad that nobody was hurt".

Earlier, Mr Inger labelled the suspected shooter a "clown".

The school buses will operate as per normal today, he said.

"Oh yes, this is a one-off , we're not in a cowboy town."

The Ministry of Education's head of education infrastructure service Jerome Sheppard confirmed it was investigating the incident.

"We would be very concerned if someone had deliberately shot at a school bus. That would be dangerous and irresponsible. It's really important to us that students can travel safely between school and home, and it's lucky no one was hurt.

"We are investigating the incident, and the bus company has advised us that the driver initially stopped the bus when one of the windows was damaged. The driver confirmed that all students on the bus were fine, and then completed the route."