Two juveniles accused of shooting at school bus

LESLIE, Mo. -- Two juvenile boys have been taken into custody for allegedly shooting at a school bus, authorities said Monday.

The boys were charged with a felony count of unlawful use of a weapon and assault, and turned over to juvenile authorities, Franklin County Sheriff Gary Toelke said. Their names and ages were not released.

The shooting happened Thursday near Leslie, Mo., about 50 miles west of St. Louis. The bus, filled with fourth-graders, teachers and parents, was returning to Clearview Elementary School from a field trip. As the bus traveled on Highway 50 near the intersection with Highway CC, students heard something hit a window. The driver stopped and called the sheriff's department, which found a bullet that had been shot through a bus window, narrowly missing two girls, before it struck a seat and fell to the floor.

Deputies found two rifles hidden in brush and found the two suspects later that day. The boys admitted firing the shot, Toelke said, but they said they were shooting at a sign on the other side of the highway and not at the bus.

Toelke said he did not believe the shooting was a copycat of the sniper attacks in the Washington, D.C., area.