Boy, 9, Woke Up Alone on School Bus at Depot After Falling Asleep on the Way to School, Mom Says: What If ‘Stranger Took Him?’

“This is unacceptable. Shame on you. You should’ve known better. You should’ve practiced all safety protocols that were in place,” the mother said

NEED TO KNOW

• A 9-year-old boy woke up alone on an empty school bus parked at a transportation yard in New Jersey on Thursday, August 6
• The boy said he had to open the bus doors himself and search for help before being found by a school employee
• His mother criticized the school district for safety failures, saying, “This is unacceptable”

A New Jersey mother is searching for answers after her son ended up at a bus depot instead of school after falling asleep on a school bus.

Wanda Chandler told WPVI that the incident happened on Thursday, August 6, when her 9-year-old son took the bus on his last day of summer school at Union Valley Elementary School in Blackwood, N.J.

The mom said she received a call two and a half hours later from the Gloucester Township Public Schools (GTPS) district, which also runs the bus service, and was informed that her son had not made it to school. She said she eventually found out that he had fallen asleep on the bus and missed his stop, per WPVI.

The boy told the outlet that when he woke up, he found himself on an empty bus parked at the school district’s transportation yard. He said he had to figure out how to open the bus doors before searching for help.

“I lifted up this thing to open the door. I got off the bus and looked for anyone. I found this man, so I asked him, ‘Do you know where I can go back?’ ” he recalled to the outlet.

“I was trying to be a big boy, so I just acted brave and normal,” he added .

A GTPS district employee found the 9-year-old walking through the parking lot and asked him his name and age before bringing him inside, and “that’s how they discovered this whole thing happened,” Chandler said, per WPVI.

The mom said Child Protective Services was notified and her son was eventually transported to school for the remainder of his last day of summer classes. However, Chandler said that she still has “a lot of questions that need answers” about the incident.

“A lot of things could’ve happened,” she explained to WPVI. “Thank God he’s safe — that’s number one — but what if he didn’t wake up? What if he walked out into that bus depot and a stranger took him? This could’ve ended altogether differently.”

Chandler told WPVI that the family recently moved to the district and her son started taking the bus to the summer program to prepare him to take the bus solo when classes began during the new school year.

She added that it was “unacceptable” how things unfolded, especially since she was told there had been a bus driver and aide on the bus helping children get to their destination.

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“This is unacceptable. Shame on you. You should’ve known better. You should’ve practiced all safety protocols that were in place,” she added.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Gloucester Township Public Schools district for comment on the incident.