A gunman hijacked a Metro bus and led Los Angeles police on a wild chase that ended with a passenger dead in downtown Los Angeles early Wednesday, police said.
For more than an hour, a cavalry of officers in police SUVs followed the bus as it slowly made its way from Vermont Knolls in South Los Angeles north to downtown, where it finally stopped after police spiked the tires and surrounded it with a SWAT team after 2 a.m.
“This driver continued to operate the bus as safely as possible under the circumstances, with police following him for an hour before the spike strips finally took effect,” Deputy Chief Donald Graham of the LAPD’s Transportation Services Division said at a news conference.
Video of the incident showed a series of small explosions around the bus stopped near Alameda and 6th streets, then police stormed inside with shields. One passenger escaped through a window as police stormed the bus, while video showed the bus driver climbing out a window and running to safety behind an armored vehicle as officers responded.
The chase began near South Figueroa Street and Manchester Avenue around 12:45 a.m. after police received 911 calls related to the bus, LAPD Officer Rosario Cervantes said. Police said the suspect got on the bus, argued with the driver and shot a passenger as others on the bus ran out.
As 911 calls began pouring into dispatchers, the bus driver pressed the panic button inside the vehicle, alerting police and triggering the emergency message on the illuminated display, police said.
Police located the bus and briefly stopped it at the corner of 117th and Figueroa Streets shortly after 1 a.m., but the chase continued, Cervantes said. At one point, officers threw nails into the bus’ path, tearing up its tires. At times, the bus drove the wrong way through the streets, wearing the worn tires down to the rims.
Video of the bus chase downtown showed the bus being pursued by more than a half-dozen police vehicles as bystanders rode alongside it on bicycles and took photos. One video shows the bus driver waving to a cameraman as the message “EMERGENCY 911 CALL POLICE” scrolled across the billboard.
The video shows the bus driver looking straight ahead and two other people inside, a man with a backpack giving the cameraman the finger and another passenger slumped against a window in a nearby seat. The officers then yell at the cameraman to get away from the bus before the chase continues.
After the chase ended and police responded, they found a passenger suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, but no one else was injured, Cervantes said. The driver and a second passenger were treated by paramedics at the scene and released, and the hijacker was arrested. The victim, who suffered a gunshot wound, was pronounced dead at a hospital, police said.
The hijacking is the latest in a series of violent incidents that have marred Los Angeles’ transit system. In May, Mayor Karen Bass called for increased security on transit lines.
Earlier this year, several stabbings and shootings on buses and trains sparked outrage and demands for change.
In April, Mirna Soza, 66 years old, was fatally stabbed on the subway while walking home from her night shift and a passenger filmed a bus driver beg for help after being stabbed.
