A school bus carrying 37 elementary school students flipped over and smashed into a tree on Nov. 21, 2016. The incident claimed the lives of six of the children and left the community desperate to make sense of the tragic loss of life. The bus driver would eventually be found guilty on multiple charges, including criminally negligent homicide, and the bus company that employed him would go on to lose its contract with the county.

On the day of the crash, Times Free Press staff jumped into action, covering the story from a variety of angles. The newspaper would go on to win first place from the Tennessee Associated Press for daily deadline reporting for its ongoing coverage of the crash and the fallout surrounding it. The newspaper’s education reporter would also win Journalist of the Year for the state on the strength of that story and others.

Day 1

School bus deaths rock community

Six Woodmore Elementary children died in a bus crash Monday, with just one school day remaining until Thanksgiving break.

The school bus carrying 35 students overturned and crashed into a tree less than a mile from the school around 3:20 p.m.

To read the Times Free Press coverage online, click here.

Click here for a PDF of the original newspaper pages.

Day 2

Answers sought in crash

She swerved right, but there was nowhere to go.

On the afternoon of Sept. 20, Belinda Hamilton rounded the corner of Sylvan Drive, a narrow, two-lane road in the Brainerd area. To her left, she saw a school bus whip through a stop sign and turn right, barreling toward her. The bus crossed the center line. Hamilton swerved right, but there was no room — the braking bus scraped against her Kia Soul.

To read the Times Free Press online coverage, click here.

Click here for a PDF of the original newspaper pages.