TRENTON, NJ – A Mexican national living in the United States illegally has been accused of throwing a baseball-sized rock through the window of a moving school bus on the New Jersey Turnpike, striking an 8-year-old child in the head and fracturing the student’s skull, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The suspect, identified as 38-year-old Hernando Garcia-Morales, was taken into custody following the January 7 incident. Officials said the school bus had been carrying several students at the time of the attack. The injured child was transported to a nearby hospital and remains under medical care.
ICE described Garcia-Morales as a “criminal illegal alien” with an extensive criminal history in New Jersey. Public records show prior arrests involving drug possession and assault, though specific case details were not immediately released. Despite his record, authorities confirmed he had been released from local custody on previous occasions under the state’s sanctuary policies, which limit cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.
Following the attack, ICE lodged an immigration detainer seeking custody of Garcia-Morales to initiate deportation proceedings once local charges are resolved. The agency also called on state and local officials to support federal efforts to prevent his release back into the community.
The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office has not yet commented on whether the state will honor the detainer request.
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- Hernando Garcia-Morales accused of rock attack on a school bus
- An 8-year-old student sustained a fractured skull
- ICE filed a detainer seeking to take custody after local prosecution
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