School bus aide charged after special needs student found gun and fired out bus window in Chicago

Caroline Kubzansky, Chicago Tribune on Sep 15, 2026

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CHICAGO — Authorities have charged a school bus aide with reckless conduct and carrying a gun in a public place near a school after a 12-year-old boy found the weapon in a bag and fired it from the bus window Monday afternoon outside Bridgeport’s Minnie Minoso Academy.

Steven Dixon, 22, also faces three misdemeanor counts of child endangerment, Chicago police representatives said.

According to a police report obtained by the Tribune, Deering (9th) district police who responded to a call of shots fired on the 3500 block of South Wallace Street met with a bus driver, who told them a student with autism had fired one shot out the school bus window.

Dixon had stepped off the bus, the driver told police, when the shot sounded. The driver found the boy holding the gun and the Dixon’s bag open nearby. According to the report, the boy found holding the gun has a habit of going through other people’s things.

The driver said he confronted Dixon as he returned to the bus and asked him if he’d brought a gun. Dixon then allegedly grabbed the weapon and the bag from the driver and ran north up Wallace Street.

In a letter to families, Miñoso Principal Carrie Cole wrote that the school “will continue striving to provide all students with a safe learning environment.” The gun was never on Chicago Public Schools grounds and no one was injured, she said.

Dixon is set to appear in court Tuesday.

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