Driver who hit N.J. school bus was heavily armed and shooting vehicles, prosecutor says (2024)

The driver who crashed into a school bus Tuesday in Phillipsburg was fleeing from police after allegedly shooting three vehicles in Warren County, investigators revealed Friday.

Suspect Brett M. Wyatt Jr., a 28-year-old Phillipsburg area resident, was armed with three guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, authorities alleged based on a search of his vehicle.

The school bus was carrying nearly two dozen children, some of whom were treated for minor injuries, police said. Wyatt suffered major injuries in the crash and was flown by medical helicopter to St. Luke’s University Hospital in Fountain Hill, according to the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office. He remained hospitalized Friday.

Tuesday’s incident began about 2:45 p.m. in Lopatcong Township, where police were dispatched to the area of Uniontown Road (Route 519) for a report of a man who had fired shots at a parked, unoccupied Ford F-450 pickup truck, Prosecutor James Pfeiffer’s office said Friday.

The gunfire struck a window and the tires on the passenger side, and police were given a description of a yellow hatchback said to be involved, the prosecutor’s office said in a news release; a responding officer observed a vehicle matching the description headed west on Route 57 near Route 519.

The driver continued west on Route 57 until he was stopped in traffic in a construction zone near Strykers Road, investigators said.

“While stopped, the subject fired shots at two occupied vehicles,” the release states.

One was a Tesla that was stopped in the construction zone also headed west; it was shot three times in the passenger side, the prosecutor’s office said. Wyatt allegedly then shot a Chevrolet sedan headed west on Route 57, striking its driver’s side door just above the door handle.

Both vehicles were occupied only by a driver, and neither was injured, investigators said.

Lopatcong police confronted the gunman as he drove west on Route 57, merging onto Route 22, according to the release.

Wyatt then drove through a Speedway gas station, speeding back into Route 22 West, driving in and out of traffic, and traveling west in the eastbound lanes of Route 22 before returning to Route 22 West, authorities said.

The pursuit continued across the toll bridge into Pennsylvania, with Wyatt continuing to weave in and out of traffic and passing vehicles on the shoulder, reaching speeds in excess of 100 mph, according to the release.

Due to traffic, Lopatcong police ended the chase at about 2:52 p.m. near Route 33 in Bethlehem Township, Northampton County, authorities said.

An alert went out to local law enforcement with a description of the hatchback and partial license plate, the prosecutor’s office said.

About 3:15 p.m., a Pennsylvania State Police trooper positioned along the Schoenersville Road interchange of Route 22 observed a vehicle matching the description exiting from Route 22 West, authorities said; after an attempted traffic stop, the vehicle fled onto Route 22 East.

Again, with police in pursuit, Wyatt allegedly weaved in and out of traffic, traveling on the shoulders of the highway, and speeding in excess of 100 mph.

Re-entering New Jersey, Wyatt lost control on Route 22, also called Memorial Parkway, at the curve near Morris Street and crashed into the school bus, authorities said.

The search of the vehicle showed Wyatt was in possession of a 9mm Glock handgun, 10mm Glock handgun and 9mm Kel-Tec Carbine with hundreds of rounds of both 9mm and 10mm ammunition, according to the news release.

“The investigation revealed that the 10mm Glock had misfired and a round was found jammed in the gun,” the release states. “Neither the 9mm Glock nor the Kel-Tec 9mm Carbine were loaded.”

Wyatt had registered and legally owned the two handguns, while the carbine was unregistered, according to Pfeiffer. There was no motive immediately available for the suspect’s alleged actions, and investigators have been unable to interview him, the prosecutor said.

Authorities further reported having recovered a “quantity of a suspicious substance” from the vehicle that has been submitted for New Jersey State Police laboratory testing.

Criminal charges remain pending, as the investigation is continuing, the prosecutor’s office said.

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Kurt Bresswein may be reached at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.