A 16-year-old Harrisburg teen has been charged with criminal homicide after the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old student moments after stepping off a school bus.

Jeremiah Moran, 16, is charged with first-degree murder, firearms not to be carried without a license, and possession of a firearm by a minor in connection with the death of a 17-year-old.

Police said the fatal shooting occurred May 29 near an intersection shortly after students were dismissed from school and days before the end of the school year. The 17-year-old had just exited a school bus when investigators say Moran approached and opened fire. The victim was transported to a local hospital for emergency care but died due to his injuries.

Video Shows Fatal Shooting

Investigators reportedly obtained video evidence allegedly showing Moran firing the weapon to shoot the victim, identified as Camar Cordero by local reports. Police said via local news that Moran later admitted to officers that he shot Cordero.

“There still is some of the puzzle that needs to be put together. But at this point in time, I think we have a pretty good understanding of what transpired and as to why it transpired as well,” Harrisburg Police Capt. Kyle Gautsch told local news reporters.

Investigators have not publicly released a motive for the fatal shooting.

However, the shooting prompted a large police response as officers secured the scene and collected evidence. Authorities noted that a school bus visible at the scene was not the bus Cordero had been riding but another bus traveling behind it.

Sixth Street remained closed for several hours while detectives processed evidence. Crime scene tape surrounded a large section of the roadway, where investigators marked multiple pieces of evidence. Witnesses reported seeing clothing and numerous evidence markers within the secured area. The road reopened around 6:15 p.m.

Neighbors who rushed to assist the victim described a chaotic scene in the moments after gunfire erupted. Judith Weaver, who helped organize emergency aid before first responders arrived, said residents immediately worked to help the wounded teen.

“I knew the bus had just let out. So, I went running down there,” Weaver told local news reporters. “Everyone was just so worked up. It was all chaos.”

Weaver said bystanders used available fabric to apply pressure to Cordero’s wounds while waiting for emergency personnel. She credited several community members, including a young girl who assisted efforts to keep the victim conscious.

Lt. Brandon Braughler of the Harrisburg Police Bureau praised residents who responded and cooperated with investigators. “The community came out,” Braughler said. “They’ve been very cooperative helping establish a very large crime scene.”

The fatal shooting has renewed concerns about youth violence in the city. Gautsch urged parents to remain actively involved in their children’s lives and be aware of potential warning signs.

“Make sure you know what’s going on with your children, what’s going on in their heads, and what’s in your lives and their lives,” Gautsch said.

The Harrisburg School District also responded to the tragedy. Superintendent Benjamin Henry said he hopes to hold a memorial in the coming days for Cordero and another student who died last week after being struck by a vehicle.

“As a father and an educator, I refuse to normalize this tragic shooting,” Henry said in a statement, calling on residents, community leaders and elected officials to work together to address violence affecting young people.

Police continue to investigate and are asking anyone with information about the case to contact the Harrisburg Bureau of Police.

---

Related: Teen Girl Shot Near Oregon Bus Stop, Suspect Arrested
Related: Texas Student Arrested Following Alleged Sexual Assault on School Bus
Related: Teen Arrested After Allegedly Hitting Student Waiting for School Bus in New York
Related: Teen Charged in Pennsylvania School Bus Shooting, 3 Others Wanted

The post Fatal Shooting at Pennsylvania School Bus Drop-Off Leads to Arrest appeared first on School Transportation News.

JEFFERSON HILLS, Pa. – Matthews Bus Company’s West Jefferson maintenance team has received a letter of commendation from the Pennsylvania State Police for their extraordinary commitment to safety and fleet maintenance. This is the second time the team has received praise for their fleet inspections in the last few years – proving their unwavering, continuous dedication to ensuring their buses are maintained to the highest standards.

The letter of commendation, written by Corporal Jacob Y. Roberts, Patrol Supervisor and US DOT Inspector for the Pennsylvania State Police, praised Maintenance Supervisor Sam Borrelli and his team, stating the following:

“Sam and his team are far and away among the absolute best to work with. The buses are always extremely well maintained, clean, and never have any issues that would result in a violation on a DOT Inspection. There is never a concern when coming to the garage that things will be out of place or that the process will be difficult. In addition to the buses, the garage itself is always well kept and maintained, and it is always a pleasurable experience to visit.”

Corporal Roberts also lauded Sam, sharing, “I have known Sam for many years at this point, and I personally believe that he does an excellent job. He reflects extremely well upon the company, and more importantly, has a genuine care and concern for the children and drivers that are in the school buses every day. He should be commended for such consistent and excellent work.

John Hinners, who is Sam’s manager and also the Regional Maintenance Manager for the Company’s Great Lakes area, shared his sentiments regarding Sam and his team’s incredible achievement and efforts, stating, “This letter is a phenomenal testament to the dedication Sam’s team provides to fleet maintenance at West Jefferson. Determination and commitment builds integrity and character. It is clear we have made an impact with our consistent and steady approach to quality maintenance. I am beyond proud of the team and their achievement. Congrats and keep up the amazing work.”

Matthews Bus Company has served the Jefferson Hills community for over 60 years and currently provides transportation for the West Jefferson Hills School District. In addition to providing transportation services, the company is proud to support the community as part of its Partners Beyond the Bus community outreach program. Examples include donating 20,000 lbs. of food to a local food pantry for the holidays, holding a Stuff a Bus event, donating a bus to the West Jefferson Hills School District for mobile mental health services, donating backpacks to local students, and more.

About Matthews Bus Company
Matthews Bus Company has been providing safe and reliable student transportation across Pennsylvania since 1961. Its mission is to transport students to school safely, on time and ready to learn® and is a sister brand to Petermann Bus, Durham School Services, Stock Transportation, and more. Through this mission and a grassroots approach to our operations, Matthews Bus Company and its sister brands have earned recognition as a trusted transportation provider among our Customers and the Communities they serve.

The post Matthews Bus Company’s West Jefferson Maintenance Team Praised for Outstanding Dedication to Safety appeared first on School Transportation News.

Pennsylvania officials are investing nearly a quarter million dollars to train new school bus drivers as part of a new program aimed at improving student transportation safety across the state.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said in a statement last month the funding will help seven school districts and transportation providers cover costs tied to training nearly 90 new drivers, including commercial driver’s license training, trainee wages, testing fees and permit costs.

Officials said the funding is part of Gov. Josh Shapiro’s newly established School Bus Safety Program, designed to expand the number of qualified drivers and strengthen safety measures for students traveling to and from school. The national school bus driver shortage remains one of the greatest challenges faced by school transportation.

“Ensuring enough drivers to safely get our students to school is another way we’re focusing on our children’s futures,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll in a statement.

He added that the funding will help schools and transportation providers make student transportation more reliable.

The funds awarded will support driver training programs across multiple counties. Recipients include the Chartiers Valley School District in Allegheny County, which received $17,256 to train 12 new drivers, and Fullington Auto Bus Company serving Centre and Clearfield counties, which received $42,500 to train 25 drivers.

Other recipients include contractor Krapf School Bus – GKJ Inc. serving Chester, Dauphin and York counties, which received $98,160 to train 32 drivers; Boyo Transportation Services in Dauphin County, which received $31,250 to train 10 drivers; the North East School District in Erie County, which received $8,160 to train eight drivers; the Laurel School District in Lawrence County, which received $1,000 for driver certification costs; and DMJ Transportation in Westmoreland County, which received $50,000 to train additional drivers.

Program award funds comes from fines collected through Pennsylvania’s automated school bus enforcement system. State law allows school buses to use camera systems to capture motorists who illegally pass buses with flashing red lights and extended stop arms.

Officials said $25 of each $300 fine issued through the enforcement system goes toward the School Bus Safety Grant Program. STN contacted the districts awarded but had not heard back at this writing.

---

Related: Ohio Announces School Bus Safety Grant Recipients for Technology Enhancements
Related: Iowa Launches Inaugural School Bus Safety Week Poster Contest
Related: The Importance of Streamlined Communication in School Bus Transportation for Safety and Efficiency
Related: (STN Podcast E296) Technology Has Blossomed: School Bus Mirrors & Student Safety

The post $250K in Funds Awarded to Train New Pennsylvania School Bus Drivers appeared first on School Transportation News.

A trailblazing regional greenhouse gas partnership on the East Coast is considering possible changes or expansion that would allow it to keep building on its success — and the stakes grew higher last month with the reelection of Donald Trump.

The 11-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, established in 2005, is the country’s first regional cap-and-invest system for reducing carbon emissions from power generation. Since 2021, administrators have been conducting a program review, analyzing its performance since the last review in 2017 and weighing potential adjustments to make sure it continues to deliver benefits to member states.

The role of such programs is more crucial as Trump’s pledges to roll back federal climate action leaves it up to cities, states, and the private sector to maintain the country’s momentum on clean energy over the next four years. In RGGI, as the regional initiative is known, states have a potential model for scaling their impact through collaboration. 

“RGGI has not only been an effective climate policy, it’s been an extraordinary example of how states can work together on common goals,” said Daniel Sosland, president of climate and energy nonprofit Acadia Center. “It is a major vehicle for climate policy now in the states, more than it might have seemed before the election.” 

How RGGI works

RGGI sets a cap for total power plant carbon emissions among member states. Individual generators must then buy allowances from the state, up to the total cap, for each ton of carbon dioxide they produce in a year. The cap lowers over time, forcing power plants to either reduce emissions or pay more to buy allowances from a shrinking pool.

States then reinvest the proceeds from these auctions into programs that further reduce emissions and help energy customers, including energy efficiency initiatives, direct bill assistance, and renewable energy projects. Since 2008, RGGI has generated $8.3 billion for participating states, and carbon dioxide emissions from power generation in the nine states that have consistently participated fell by about half between 2008 and 2021, a considerably faster rate than the rest of the country. 

“It has really thrived and been really effective across multiple administrations,” said Jackson Morris, state power sector director with the Natural Resources Defense Council. “RGGI is a winning model. It’s not theoretical — we’ve got numbers.”

Currently, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont are part of the program. Virginia joined RGGI in 2021, but in 2023 Gov. Glenn Youngkin repealed the state’s participation, a move immediately challenged in court; a judge ruled last month that the governor lacked the authority to withdraw the state from initiative, though a spokesman for the governor has declared the state’s intention to appeal. 

There is widespread agreement that RGGI will endure despite likely federal hostility to climate measures. There was no attempt to take direct action against it during Trump’s first term, nor has there been any concerted industry opposition, said Conservation Law Foundation president Bradley Campbell, who was involved in the founding of RGGI when he was commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Supporters also note that the program has historically had broad bipartisan support: Participating states have been led through the years by both Republican and Democratic governors and legislatures. 

Politics has had some influence over the years, though only at the margins. New Jersey, a founding member of RGGI, left in 2011 when Chris Christie was governor, but returned in 2020 following an executive order from his successor. Pennsylvania joined in 2022 through an executive order from the governor, but its participation is now being challenged in court. 

Still, RGGI’s foundations are solid and will remain so, experts said. 

“The basic infrastructure has weathered the political winds over the decades,” Campbell said.

Looking forward

Nonetheless, RGGI will need to make some carefully thought-out program design decisions during its current review to make an impact in the face of falling federal support for decarbonization. 

One question under consideration is whether to maintain the existing trajectory for the overall emissions cap for the program — a reduction of 30% between 2020 and 2030, then holding steady thereafter — or to continue lowering the limit after 2030. 

The RGGI states are also contemplating a possible change to the compliance schedule that would require power generators to acquire allowances worth 100% of their carbon emissions each year, and certify compliance annually. The current system calls for certification every three years, and only mandates allowances equivalent to half of carbon emissions for the first two years of each period.

The program is looking for ways to appeal to potential new participant states that have less aggressive decarbonization goals than current member states without watering down the program’s overall impact on decarbonization, said Acadia Center policy analyst Paola Tamayo. Acadia suggested possible program mechanisms such as giving proportionately more allowances to states with more stringent emissions targets to incentivize tighter limits.

“At this point it is critical for states to maintain a high level of ambition when it comes to programs like RGGI,” Tamayo said. “There are different mechanisms that they can implement to accommodate other states.”

The program review is expected to yield a model rule some time over the winter, though updates may be made into the spring as the RGGI states receive and consider feedback on how to accommodate potential new participants.  

States will also need to maintain and strengthen their own climate policies to magnify the impact of RGGI, Campbell said. He pointed to Massachusetts, where Gov. Maura Healey needs to show “bolder leadership,” he said, and Maine and Vermont, where the Conservation Law Foundation has filed lawsuits in an attempt to compel the states to meet their own carbon reduction deadlines. 

“It’s especially important that the states that have strong emissions reduction mandates speed up the implementation of their climate laws,” he said. “State leadership on these issues is going to be more important than ever.”

As climate focus shifts to states, East Coast partnership offers model for multi-state collaboration is an article from Energy News Network, a nonprofit news service covering the clean energy transition. If you would like to support us please make a donation.