CNN
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One person is dead after a gunman hijacked a Los Angeles city bus overnight, leading police on a chase for more than an hour before the suspect was taken into custody.
A person was found shot and wounded on a Metro bus early Wednesday and later died at a local hospital, Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Donald Graham said. The bus driver and a passenger were rescued from the bus after police eventually stopped it with spike strips to slash the tires before a SWAT team moved in to rescue them, he said.
The suspect, identified as Lamont Campbell, 51, was arrested on suspicion of murder, LAPD Deputy Chief Blake Chow said.
It is unclear whether Campbell has legal representation. CNN has contacted the local public defender’s office.
Hours after his arrest, the suspect’s motives remain unclear, a police source told CNN. The alleged shooter was being questioned by homicide detectives, the source said.
The incident comes as city transportation officials are using emergency funds to improve security on Metro buses, where they say there is a worrying trend of violence among bus operators.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass thanked the bus driver and police officers for their courage and quick response.
“My heart goes out to the loved ones of the person who was tragically killed early this morning. Every Los Angeles resident has the right to live their lives safely, especially on our public transit systems, and I will work urgently with the members of the Metro Board of Directors as well as our Metro Chairman and CEO to enhance the safety strategies we implemented earlier this year,” Bass said in a statement Wednesday.
The bus hijacking is one of the latest examples of ordinary Americans being terrorized by gun violence in places they once thought were safe, from schools to supermarkets to public transportation.
Police responded around 12:45 a.m. to reports of a gunman on the Metro bus, Graham said, adding that an emergency panic button on the bus also alerted police.
The bus was initially reported in an industrial neighborhood in densely populated South Los Angeles.
Between the first 911 reports and the time police found the bus in South Central Los Angeles, stopped around 117th and Figueroa streets, several people were seen getting out, he said.
The bus then sped away, leading police through downtown Los Angeles.
The bus driver continued to operate the bus “as safely as possible under the circumstances, with police following him for over an hour,” Graham said, calling the city’s bus drivers “public service heroes.”
Graham said the bus was eventually stopped near Alameda and 6th Street, near the city’s “depressed neighborhood” known for its homeless population.
The passenger rescued by the SWAT team was found barricaded in the back of the bus, “shaken but unharmed,” Graham said.
Police are aware of reports of a person being hit by a vehicle near where they were chasing the bus, although it is unclear whether that incident is related, he added.
The bus driver “is now in relatively good spirits, although a little shaken,” Graham said.
Metro General Manager Stephanie Wiggins said she spoke to the driver, who told her he was just doing his job. “But that’s not his job,” Wiggins said, expressing frustration over safety issues on public transit.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, chairwoman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board, said the MTA will work with law enforcement and prosecutors to seek justice for the victim who was killed.
“I am grateful to our Metro bus driver who showed incredible composure by activating a silent alarm to alert law enforcement, and to the LAPD who responded to a difficult and dangerous situation,” Hahn said in a statement. “We need to find ways to prevent people from bringing guns onto our Metro buses and trains, and the sooner we can find solutions to prevent tragedies like this, the better.”
At a news conference Wednesday, Hahn called the incident a “real-life nightmare.”
She said more needs to be done to prevent people from bringing guns onto transit systems, adding that the MTA is testing three different gun detection systems at the city’s transit hub, Union Station.
“If you can’t walk into a Dodgers game or a concert with a gun, you shouldn’t be able to get on a bus or a train with a gun,” Hahn said.
In April, the agency approved more than $5 million in emergency funding to equip its buses with safety barriers to protect drivers from passengers, citing an escalation in violent attacks on bus drivers.
In fact, the bus involved in Wednesday’s incident was equipped with a safety barrier, which authorities say played a key role in the ordeal.
“If the barrier hadn’t been there, that driver wouldn’t have been able to signal that he needed help,” Bass said.
The April report details a plane hijacking and an operator stabbed within weeks of each other.
“In the Metro bus network, aggravated assaults against bus drivers increased fourfold between 2019 and 2023, and assaults against bus drivers increased by 50% over the same period,” the report said. “This recent trend is extremely alarming and must be addressed immediately.”
The report outlines plans to install barriers on buses by the end of the year, prioritising bus routes that have suffered the highest share of attacks by operators.
This story has been updated with additional information.
