School Bus Driver Called Hero For Keeping Blood-Covered Man Away

LAKELAND, FL — A Polk County bus driver is being called a hero for her calm efforts to protect the children on her school bus Friday when a man covered in blood tried to get on the vehicle. The man later broke into a home and was killed.

Bus driver Margie Yzaguirre saw Mayson Armando Ortiz-Vazquez driving dangerously in a truck along Polk City Road as she picked up her first student shortly after 6 a.m., officials said.

“He was swerving really bad all over the road,” Yzaguirre said.

Shortly afterward, Ortiz-Vazquez crashed his truck into a fence, and walked to her school bus.

“He comes to my student door," she said. "He has blood dripping down his arm, and he starts banging on the doors to get in."

“The school bus driver was a hero,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd in a news release. “She kept the doors locked. She didn’t let him in when he ran up to the vehicle.”

The bus driver said she felt frightened but stayed calm as she refused to open the doors, and motioned to Ortiz-Vazquez to move away from the bus. She alerted her dispatcher to call law enforcement.

“She reacted exactly in the way we would want a bus driver to react in that situation. She kept the safety of her students in the forefront of her mind,” said Rob Davis, Polk County Public Schools' assistant superintendent for support services. “She did everything right, and we’re extremely proud of her.”

Ortiz-Vazquez eventually broke into a Lakeland resident's home, where he was shot and killed by the homeowner, authorities said.

"The school bus driver was a hero," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "She kept the doors locked."

Related story: Homeowner Shoots Intruder Who Broke Into Lakeland House: Sheriff

On Friday afternoon, Yzaguirre contemplated the “what-ifs” of the incident.

Her normal pickup time for her student was 6:14 a.m., but Yzaguirre had just changed it to 6:05 a.m. to save her from being late to her next run.

“What if I hadn’t made that change," she said. “The student could have been standing alone at the bus stop when all this happened.”

The parents of the student — Carson Hughes, who attends Lake Gibson High — said it is reassuring to know their child is transported by someone like Yzaguirre every day.

“When I heard about it, I was extremely grateful for her reacting as quickly as she did,” said Carolyn Hughes, Carson’s mother. “I feel very safe with my child being with her every day. I’m grateful to her.”