A man armed with a knife who hijacked a school bus Thursday morning, holding 11 elementary students and a bus driver hostage in Jacksonville, Ark., has been arrested.
The suspect was identified as 22-year-old Nicholas John Miller. Police say that he initially demanded a car from a woman walking along the street at knifepoint; however, the woman did not have a car to give him. That's when he carjacked the school bus, took the driver's seat and led police on a ten-mile chase.
"The bus would not stop so the pursuit lasted for about eight to ten miles," Jacksonville Police Capt. Kenny Boyd said, noting that the bus was driving between 30 and 50 miles per hour, reports NBC News.
No one was injured in the incident and "all 11 children are safe and with their parents," said April Kiser, a spokeswoman for the Jacksonville Police Department.
Police stopped the bus roughly 20 minutes after the hijacking began, according to Boyd, reports CNN.
"We were able to get the bus stopped. The suspect was taken into custody, and nobody was injured," he said.
According to an arrest report, Miller told authorities that people were after him and that he needed to take the bus to save his life. He said he had no plans to hurt any of the children or the driver.
Miller was being charged Thursday with a felony count of vehicle piracy, 12 felony counts of kidnapping, and two felony counts of aggravated assault, Kiser said.
Back in May, Miller had another run-in with the law when he was arrested on suspicion of breaking and entering into a vehicle and stealing a shotgun and money. He was sentenced in September to 24 months of probation.
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