Local school bus driver fired after student struck found dead in vehicle at lakeside park

HARKER HEIGHTS, Texas (KWTX) – The Bell County Sheriff’s Department was investigating Wednesday after a man was found shot to death in a vehicle at a lakeside park.

Deputies found William “Bill” Jones, Jr., dead in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle just after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Cedar Gap Park on Stillhouse Hollow Lake on the southern edge of Harker Heights.

An autopsy was ordered.

“This is an isolated incident and there is no threat to the public who frequent this lake park,” sheriff’s Lt. Bob Reinhard said in a press release.

Jones, a 12-year veteran of the Killeen ISD Transportation Department, was fired Monday after he was cited for failure to activate his bus’s red warning lights following an accident in which a middle school student who exited and then started to cross the street in front of the bus walked into the path of an oncoming pickup truck near Hilltop Loop and Wales Drive.

The unidentified student was flown to a local hospital where he was in stable condition.

“The situation is very unfortunate. We are respectful and sorrowful for all parties involved in this tragic chain of events. We are dedicated to working diligently and compassionately towards providing all parties resolve,” the district said in a statement Wednesday.

“We hope the student continues on the path to an expedient recovery, the family finds comfort, and all those involved are able to find peace.”

Copyright 2020 KWTX. All rights reserved.