
Photo by J.C. Derrick
A bus carrying Apopka High School students crashed into a van Friday morning, sending at least seven people to the hospital.
According to first responders on the scene, the Apopka Fire Department dispatched to the scene at 7:55 a.m. after an Orange County Public Schools (OCPS) bus rear-ended a van at the corner of E. Votaw Road and N. Park Avenue.
First responders described the wreck as “minor,” but as of 9:30 a.m., they said seven people had been sent to the hospital. Crews were continuing to check students one at a time as they came off the bus and went to parents waiting in nearby cars.
One parent, who declined to be named, told The Apopka Chief she was still trying to understand what happened and was just glad her two children on the bus were safe. She said an assistant principal had called her to come pick up her children, who she planned to take home.
The wreck followed a separate, unrelated law enforcement incident at Apopka High School Friday morning that caused the school to be placed on “secure/hold,” according to OCPS. During the secure/hold status, the district diverted buses to the parking lot at Apopka Memorial Middle School on N. Park Avenue, a block from where the wreck occurred.
“The campus has since returned to normal operations,” OCPS spokesperson Michael Ollendorff wrote in an email to the Chief at 10:15 a.m.
The secure/hold on Apopka High School was in response to five people having fled a vehicle during a traffic stop that Florida Highway Patrol was conducting this morning near the school, according to Apopka Sgt. Kimberly Walsh in an email to the Chief today at 5:08 p.m.
APD assisted with a perimeter until it was certain all vehicle occupants were found. Five people are in custody, according to Walsh.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with additional information from the Apopka Police Department.

