Students Charged After Attack on Child on Bulloch County School Bus; Elderly Bus Driver Arrested

The Bulloch County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident that occurred on a school bus on April 18, 2025.

On April 23, 2025, the Sheriff’s Office SRO at William James Middle School received a report that a 7-year-old student was attacked by other students on the morning bus route to Mattie Lively Elementary School. The attack occurred while the bus was traveling on Highway 301 North in Statesboro, GA.

After reviewing bus camera footage, seven students, ranging in age from 5 to 14, were identified and charged with battery. They have been suspended from their respective schools, and their cases will be forwarded to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

The bus driver, 70-year-old Joey Edwin Jackson, has been charged with 2nd-degree cruelty to children and failure to report child abuse. He is no longer employed by the Board of Education.

Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact Sgt. Bubba Revell at (912) 486-5926.