WHITTIER >> Authorities have released the identity of a 19-year-old special needs student found dead after being left on a school bus for hours Friday afternoon.
Paramedics pronounced Hun Joon Lee of Whittier dead at the scene after he was found unresponsive in a bus parked at a Whittier Union High School District parking lot at Mulberry Drive and Greenleaf Avenue about 4:25 p.m., Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Lt. David Smith said. An autopsy was pending.
Lee was believed to have been left alone on the bus for hours before being discovered by the bus driver, though the exact length of time was not clear, Whittier police Officer Brad White said. The investigation is ongoing.
WUHSD Superintendent Sandy Thorstensen said the incident left the district devastated. She offered condolences to Lee’s family and called for and called for a “speedy and thorough” investigation into Lee’s death.
Lee was a student at the Sierra Education Center’s transitional program, located adjacent to the district parking lot, WUHSD officials said.
The involved bus and driver were provided by Pupil Transportation Cooperative, a Whittier-based company providing school bus services to several Whittier-area school districts.