LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A passenger was fatally shot aboard a hijacked Metro bus, and the suspect was arrested after a slow pursuit through downtown Los Angeles, police said Wednesday.
The pursuit began around 12:50 a.m. Wednesday when police responded to South Figueroa Street and Imperial Highway regarding a shots fired call. According to reports from the scene, Los Angeles Police Department officers witnessed a man with a gun boarding the bus near Figueroa and West 119th Street, who demanded that the driver continue driving through downtown.
Four people were on the bus, two passengers, the driver and the suspect, according to media reports. Police pursued the bus for over an hour and at some point the suspect allegedly shot a passenger on board the bus, NBC4 reported.
SWAT officers were called to 620 S. Alameda St. near Skid Row around 2:40 a.m. when the bus briefly stopped after police deployed spike strips on the street, the LAPD said. During the standoff, officers surrounded the bus and shot bean bags and stun grenades at the suspect as they tried to rescue the driver and the injured passenger.
The pursuit ended near Sixth and Alameda streets, where the driver was safely rescued and the suspect was taken into custody.
LAPD Cmdr. Donald Graham told reporters that the passenger who had been shot was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Information on his identity was not immediately available.
Graham said another passenger who hid in the back of the bus during the hijacking was rescued by police.
The driver pushed a panic button inside the bus, alerting police to his predicament.
“Metro is grateful for the LAPD’s swift action regarding this morning’s bus hijacking incident and is grateful the operator was unharmed. Metro is providing the operator with the support he needs,” Metro spokesman Jose Ubaldo said in a statement to City News Service. “This is still an active investigation being led by the LAPD.”
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who chairs the Metro Board of Directors, released the following statement on Wednesday morning:
“The hijacking of a Metro bus in Downtown Los Angeles late last night and the tragic murder of a passenger was a nightmare. I am grateful to our Metro bus driver who showed incredible composure in activating a silent alarm to alert law enforcement, and to the LAPD who responded to a difficult and dangerous situation.
“We still have unanswered questions about how this happened and I expect Metro to work closely with both law enforcement and prosecutors as they seek justice for the victim’s family. We need ways to prevent people from bringing weapons onto our Metro buses and trains, and the sooner we can find solutions to prevent tragedies like this, the better.”
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