Machete-wielding attacker crashes into bus full of kids while fleeing, Missouri cops say

A machete-wielding man who attacked a customer at a gas station sideswiped a school bus during his escape, Missouri law enforcement said.

Now, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office has issued a warrant for Ted Treece’s arrest, Sheriff Dave Marshak tweeted Wednesday. The 31-year-old has been charged with first-degree assaultand armed criminal action in the “publicized machete attack.”

Officials say Treece had a machete when he entered a High Ridge, Missouri, gas station at about 3 p.m. Tuesday, KTVI reported. High Ridge is in the St. Louis metropolitan area.

While wearing a ski mask, Treece swung the machete, hitting a customer inside the gas station, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Police said this was not a random attack, KTVI reported, and the victim suffered a small facial injury.

Following the attack, Treece fled and sideswiped a school bus full of kids, police said, according to KSDK. No kids on the bus were hurt.

Treece continued his getaway, KSDK reported, and he crashed his car again before running into the nearby woods.

Investigators are continuing to search for Treece, Marshak said on Twitter.

Treece is still on probation from an unrelated 2018 case in which police say he fired a crossbow and assault rifle at someone he knew, the Post-Dispatch reported.

This story was originally published August 25, 2021 at 7:06 PM with the headline "Machete-wielding attacker crashes into bus full of kids while fleeing, Missouri cops say."