WAUKESHA — A former bus driver in Hartland was sentenced on Friday following an incident that occurred in January 2025.
Parents of the children who were on the bus, 73-year-old Walter Cunningham was driving, spoke at the plea hearing, saying their children were traumatized from the incident.
Court records say Cunningham, who was new to driving the route, missed the first stop. The bus company believes he was circling back, but then kept missing the stop and also missed other children's stops. Records say children yelled out about their stops, and Cunningham yelled back.
WATCH: Dozens of people packed a courtroom for Walter Cunningham's plea hearing.
According to surveillance footage from inside the bus, Cunningham was heard yelling at the children.
"She was terrified," a parent of one of the children said. "We just recently saw the video. She was an absolute wreck getting off the bus. When I got the call on the phone, she was an absolute wreck. I had to speed across town to try to find her. Kids were everywhere. I mean, it was a nightmare."
Inside the packed courtroom, the judge said the bus driver was overcharged by the District Attorney's Office.
Cunningham was facing 28-counts of recklessly endangering safety - one count for each child on the bus, plus one for the parent who got onto it.
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