Some Dispute Boy's Hero Claim In Case Of Runaway Bus

CLEVELAND -- Some people are saying that a Cleveland boy believed to have stopped a runaway bus carrying 27 school children may have caused the scare in the first place.

The family of 11-year-old David Murphy, however, said the boy did nothing wrong.

David's story is continuing to grab national headlines. The boy was on a school bus left running and unattended at a gas station earlier this week by driver Michael Weir.

When the bus suddenly started rolling downhill, David said kids started screaming and he rushed to the driver's seat to take control of the runaway vehicle.

David said he steered the bus away from a semitrailer's path and into a concrete bridge support.

"I'm very proud of him. He's a brave, courageous young child," said David's mother, Patricia Murphy.

But some are still questioning whether David is a hero. Aqua Limo, the company that apparently owns the bus, believes David disengaged the emergency parking brake, causing it to roll, and some kids who were on the bus are now making the same claim.

David told NewsChannel5 that he wasn't in the driver's seat before the bus started moving and reacted only after the bus started to roll.