School Bus Threat

     In October of 1969 the Zodiac wrote a very chilling and twisted threat to the San Francisco Chronicle. He admited the Paul Stein killing and at the bottom of the letter he wrote, "School children make nice targets, I think I shall wipe out a school bus some morning. Just shoot out the front tire & then pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out."

    In doing this he more or less admitted that he did not have any sympathy for the kids and therefor had none of his own. This also solidified the fact that he was a loner and probably was not married. This letter was given to the police and therefor tested with Ninhydrin, a chemical used for fingerprints. Finally the letter was given to publication and the people reacted with fear and panic. An emergency bulletin was issued to police, county, and city school superintendents. It read as follows:

     1.  Continue driving the bus on a flat tire. Do not stop.
     2.  Tell the children to get below the level of the windows and lie on the floor.
     3.  The driver will continue driving and turn on all lights and sound the horn.
     4.  The school bus shall not be stopped until arriving in a well-populated area.
     5.  Upon arrival at this location a local law enforcement agency should be notified immediately.

     Ten thousand school children in twenty-eight schools rod3e Napa County's sixty-five yellow-striped buses. The buses traveled four thousand miles, round trip, in a day, much of it around dangerous curves and through blind intersections. In some places the country roads are completely deserted, with as much as two miles separating houses.

     Nothing ever happened.