Hero mum shields her son from BULLETS after crazed gunman opens fire

A MOTHER has described the moment she shielded her young son from raining bullets as a crazed gunman opened fire at a fellow bus passenger.

Passengers ducked in their seats and some fled as a man pulled out a black pistol and an eight-inch knife from his trousers after jumping off the bus.

The gunman, a man in his 20s, seemed in a hurry to disembark and shot at a man from point blank range who had told him to watch where he was going.

The mother, who did not wish to be named, said the gunman also pulled out a Rambo-style blade and started waving it around before fleeing.

Luckily the victim was not wounded in the incident — but South Yorkshire Police are now in search of the shooter.

Speaking about the horrific ordeal in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, the mother said: "He got off with about a dozen other passengers. The man seemed in a hurry to get off the bus. He knocked into a couple of people as he hurried off.

"Some people asked him to watch his step — that's when he shouted, 'I'm not scared of anybody!'

"He pulled out a black pistol from his trousers and fired it at point blank range at one of the other passengers, a man.

"I held my child as tight as I could and tried to cover him to keep him safe.

"He then pulled out a large black Rambo style knife, blade approximately eight inches long, and waved that along with the pistol whilst continuing to shout but it was incomprehensible."

"The passengers all backed away or those that were on the bus ducked down."

Speaking about the heroics of the bus driver following the shooting aftermath, the woman said: "The bus driver and some of the passengers were wonderful, they spent time asking the gun man's intended victim if he was okay and checked him over for a wound — but thankfully he was unhurt.

She added: "The driver then kept spirits up with friendly chat in true Yorkshire style."

The woman had been a passenger on the 272 bus when it stopped outside The Fox House on Hathersage Road.

She described the man as white, with short dark brown hair and short side burns, clean shaven and aged around early to mid 20s and about 5'9".

She said the gunman, wearing a checked Fred Perry baseball cap, had ran away over the pub car park and into nearby fields.

The incident happened at about 12.45pm on Sunday and so far no arrests have been made.

A spokesman for First Bus said: "The incident occurred off the 272 bus heading to Castleton outside the Fox House Inn and our driver immediately contacted the police. Thankfully no-one was injured in the incident."

He added: "I would like to apologise to customers who experienced disrupted journeys because of the incident.

"We're working closely with the South Yorkshire Police to support their investigation."

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting incident number 508 of May 1, and information can also be passed anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555111.