Special needs student, 19, dies after he was 'left alone on school bus all day during heatwave'

  • Hun Joon Lee, 19, found unresponsive on the school bus this afternoon
  • Believed that he got on the bus to school this morning but never got off 
  • Alarm wasn't raised until his mother realized he was late home from school
  • Drivers tried to resuscitate Lee but he was declared dead by paramedics
  • One of the drivers was held for questioning but was released without arrest
  • Temperatures hit 90 degrees during heatwave near the special school in LA

By Ollie Gillman For Dailymail.com

Published: 00:15 EST, 13 September 2015 | Updated: 00:44 EST, 13 September 2015

A teenage special needs student died after apparently being left alone in a parked school bus all day during a heatwave.

Hun Joon Lee, 19, was found lying in the aisle of a bus parked in a depot yesterday afternoon after his mother phoned the adult school he attends to find out why he had not come home on time.

It is believed that the teenager got on the bus to Sierra Vista Adult School, in Los Angeles, in the morning but never got off on a day when temperatures hit 90 degrees.

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Teenage special needs student Hun Joon Lee died after apparently being left alone in a parked school bus all day during a heatwave

Teenage special needs student Hun Joon Lee died after apparently being left alone in a parked school bus all day during a heatwave

The 19-year-old was found lying in the aisle of a bus parked in a depot yesterday afternoon after his mother phoned Sierra Vista Adult School in Los Angeles to find out why he had not come home on time

The 19-year-old was found lying in the aisle of a bus parked in a depot yesterday afternoon after his mother phoned Sierra Vista Adult School in Los Angeles to find out why he had not come home on time

The school alerted bus company Pupil Transportations shortly after 4pm. Lee was found unresponsive on the bus minutes later.

A group of drivers desperately tried to resuscitate the boy as they waited for emergency services to arrive, but he could not be saved and was pronounced dead by paramedics shortly afterwards.

Questions are likely to be raised as to how the driver of the bus did not spot Lee had not got off in the morning and why teachers did not raise concerns when the special needs student did not show up for class.

Witness Tim McDermott told NBC Los Angeles that the bus drivers were all 'in tears'. 

'It was heartbreaking. No one wants to be responsible for something like this,' he added.

Police are treating the death as suspicious because Lee had no known medical conditions. His cause of death is not known but no weapons were found at the scene and he did not appear to have been attacked. 

Questions are likely to be raised as to how the driver of the bus did not spot Lee had not got off in the morning and why teachers did not raise concerns when the special needs student did not show up for class

Questions are likely to be raised as to how the driver of the bus did not spot Lee had not got off in the morning and why teachers did not raise concerns when the special needs student did not show up for class

The bus driver was questioned but has not been arrested.

Officer Brad White said: 'At 4pm today when [Lee] did not arrive at his house his mother called the school.

'At that time the school contacted Pupil Transportations and asked regarding the student and whether they were missing the student.

'That's when the bus driver walked to the bus yard and discovered the student.

When [police officers] arrived on scene bus drivers were performing CPR. Our officers took over performing CPR in an attempt to revive the student.'

According to CBS Los Angeles, Sandy Thorstenson, superintendent of the Whittier School District, said: 'This tragedy has devastated all of us. We are still gathering information about what happened. 

'The District is calling for a speedy and thorough investigation to determine how something like this could happen. Our hearts are with our student’s parents and family - we’re all grieving. 

'We’re making ourselves, our counseling services and our staff available to his family and to our students and staff who were close to him.'

  

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