Gunman, accomplice arrested for shooting at school bus in Coatesville, police say

Two men have been charged with attempted murder and related crimes in the shooting of a school bus in Coatesville last month.

Gabriel Johnson, 17, was one of two gunmen who fired eight shots at a bus carrying Coatesville Area Senior High School students on Oct. 10, according to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office. Jose Medina, 20, who was seen with Johnson at the time but is not alleged to have fired at the bus, was also charged.

Johnson remained in custody in lieu of $1 million bail. Medina is also in custody, awaiting his arraignment, scheduled for Tuesday morning. It was unclear if either had hired an attorney.

The bus was struck by gunfire as it was dropping off students at the intersection of Hope Avenue and Charles Street. Authorities have said the shooting was targeted and stemmed from a feud among students.

A Coatesville Area Senior High School student, Jaki White-Marshall, 18, was arrested days after the shooting, and prosecutors said they are still looking for a fourth person, who shot at the bus alongside Johnson.

White-Marshall is awaiting a preliminary hearing in the case. His attorney, Vincent Caputo, has said White-Marshall was a bystander who was not involved in the shooting.

A spokesperson for the Coatesville Area School District said Monday that Johnson is also a student at the high school. Medina is a graduate of the school.

On the day of the incident, gunfire rang out at about 2:30 p.m., shattering the bus’ windshield and causing its driver and 27 students onboard to dive for cover, according to an affidavit of probable cause for White-Marshall’s arrest.

As the bus was stopped to drop off some students, Medina, White-Marshall, Johnson and a fourth person were seen walking toward the intersection of Hope Avenue and Madison Street, prosecutors said. Johnson and the unidentified gunman opened fire at the bus. The group then ran down nearby Lemon Street, got into a parked Kia Optima and fled.

Investigators said they were able to trace the vehicle to White-Marshall’s grandmother. The car had been involved in a police pursuit in August, during which White-Marshall was driving and Medina was riding in the passenger seat, according to court records.

In an interview, White-Marshall’s grandmother said he had borrowed her car hours before the shooting and was supposed to drop it off at his mother’s house, the affidavit said.

White-Marshall’s mother later told police that her son drove the group to the location of the shooting, but said her son did not fire at the bus, according to the affidavit. He was only there, she said, to take part in a fistfight with other students. She declined to identify the other people who were there with her son.

That planned fight, investigators said, was the culmination of a simmering feud among students at the school.

The mother of two boys who attend Coatesville Area Senior High School told police her sons had been attacked by four men in ski masks at that same bus stop on Oct. 8, two days before the shooting, according to the affidavit. And on Oct. 10, she said one of her sons got into another fight at the school and was sent home early. Her other son rode the bus home, and was fired at by the group of four men as he stepped off the bus, the affidavit said.

When investigators searched White-Marshall’s home, they found a ski mask and black clothing matching the description of the clothing worn by those in the group that attacked the bus, according to the affidavit.

Since the shooting in October, the Coatesville Area School District has been using security scanners at the entrance to the high school, the district spokesperson said.

In a letter sent to parents Monday, Assistant Superintendent Anthony P. Rybarczyk said district officials are cooperating with the investigation into the shooting, which is ongoing.

“It’s important to remember that that while incidents like the bus incident are extremely serious and traumatic, they are not representative of the vast majority of our students or our school community,” he said.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Chester County District Attorney’s Office at 610-344-6866 or the Coatesville City Police Department at 610-384-2300.