Stevenson Students Return Home After Hijacking & Robbery In South Africa

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Stevenson University students and staff are safe at home after their tour bus was hijacked and robbed. It happened while the group was on a study abroad program in South Africa.

As Gigi Barnett explains, one of the city's former top cops was on the bus.

Mere hours into a five week study abroad trip in South Africa, Stevenson University students and staff tell what happened when their bus was hijacked.

"We're all just having a good time looking at zebras," said student Tara Shriver. "There was someone on the bus."

He had a gun. Seconds later, three more armed men got on. They snatched everything they could, including money, jewelry and watches.

Former Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld was a chaperone. He's a professor at the university now. His "cop instincts" kicked in.

"It wasn't the time for Jason Bourne ninja stuff," he said. "My parental instincts guided me."

Parents received texts and emails shortly after the robbery. Then the phone calls came.

The university says something like this has never happened before on the summer program---but now the group wants justice, even if it's half a world away.

The university decided to cut the trip short. Each student had a personal police escort back to the airport.

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