Child Seriously Injured After Rock Thrown at School Bus in N.J.

A routine school trip turned into a nightmare on Wednesday afternoon after a rock was hurled at a school bus packed with third-graders on the New Jersey Turnpike, leaving an 8-year-old with a serious skull fracture.

The attack happened just after 2 p.m. near Exit 70A/B in Leonia and Teaneck. The bus was carrying students from Yeshivat Noam, a Modern Orthodox Jewish day school in Paramus, as they headed home from the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City.

Parents say the children were laughing and talking about the exhibits when the window suddenly exploded.

According to New Jersey State Police, someone threw a rock at the bus as it traveled northbound in the right lane. The rock blasted through the side window and struck a child sitting by the aisle. Troopers say the impact was severe.

Yeshivat Noam later confirmed the injured student suffered a skull fracture and is undergoing medical care. School officials described the child’s condition as “serious but being closely monitored.”

Parents rushed to the scene after receiving frantic calls from students.

“My daughter kept saying the glass blew in like a bomb,” said parent Avram Zamist, whose 9-year-old girl was seated a few feet from the broken window. “She’s very upset. She’s shook. But she’s physically OK. A friend of hers is not OK. And that’s devastating.”

Zamist said his daughter told him the bus fell silent before several kids began crying.

“They’re just little kids. They have no idea why this happened,” he said. “It’s terrifying to think someone would target a bus full of children.”

The school released a statement urging the community not to jump to conclusions about intent.

“We do not know the motive behind the incident, and it would be premature to draw conclusions,” Yeshivat Noam leaders said. They also stressed that the bus did not display any markings identifying it as a Jewish-affiliated vehicle.

“We hope it wasn’t intentional,” Zamist added. “But if it was, it’s the worst feeling in the world to think someone would put a child’s life in danger.”

Incidents involving projectiles thrown at moving vehicles have increased nationwide in recent years. The FBI has repeatedly warned that such attacks can be lethal, especially when aimed at buses or trucks traveling at highway speeds.

State Police are treating the attack as an aggravated assault. Troopers spent the afternoon reviewing debris on the roadway, collecting the shattered window panel, and looking for surveillance or dash-cam footage.

Investigators are urging anyone who was driving in the area around 2 p.m. to check their cameras.

Witnesses or drivers with video can contact the NJSP Detective Bureau at 732-441-4500, ext. 1401. Anonymous tips are welcome.

As parents wait for answers, many say they’re struggling to process how a simple field trip ended with a child in the hospital.

“These kids were supposed to come home with stories about science and space,” Zamist said. “Instead, we’re talking about how one of them almost didn’t make it home at all.”