In front of students, school bus driver kills deer 'to end its suffering'

Injured animal had been hit by another vehicle first

"Some days, small-town living presents unusual challenges. Today is one of those."

Those were the words that a school superintendent used to open a message sent to parents following an incident in which a school bus driver purposely ran over an injured deer in the presence of students.

The bus driver -- who is employed in Dexter, Michigan, which is about 50 miles west of Detroit -- hit the animal, which had already been struck by another vehicle first, "to end its suffering," the school superintendent said.

The incident took place Friday morning after the wounded deer limped into the bus hub where students were being dropped off for school.

School grounds team members disposed of the remains, the district said, adding that some students saw firsthand what had happened, which is presumably why the school wanted to release a statement, rather than letting the whole ordeal turn into a game of "telephone."

"Regrettably, some students witnessed one or more of these unfortunate events this morning," the superintendent said. "All students are safe. The decision to drive over the animal in the presence of children is absolutely not a course of action we condone and we greatly regret that it happened. We understand that this situation is likely to be quite upsetting for students, parents, and staff who witnessed or heard about it. However, we hope that everyone concerned can understand that the driver made a very human mistake out of compassion for the animal. We have addressed the situation with our staff."

Read the entire statement by clicking or tapping here.

Parents, what do you say? Did the school handle this appropriately? Weigh in using the comment section below.