RUTLEDGE, Tenn. – A 29-year-old Tennessee man who rode on a school bus and walked into a high school with students has been charged with trespassing, officials said.
A deputy was called to Grainger County High School on Tuesday and spoke to Juan Purkey, who told him he had ridden a school bus to the facility, news outlets reported, citing an arrest report from the Grainger County Sheriff’s Department.
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Purkey had been standing on the side of the road with papers and a binder when a substitute bus driver saw him and thought he was a student and picked him up, Grainger County School District Superintendent James Atkins said in a statement.
“It is not uncommon for the substitute not to know any of the students,” Atkins said. “It was the most unique situation we have ever seen."
After he walked into the high school with other students, a teacher stopped him and took him to the office and police were called, Atkins said.
He said school officials followed all safety protocols but that a safety team would be meeting to address additional security protocols.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether Purkey has an attorney.