1 dead, 1 in custody on suspicion of hijacking Metro bus in South Los Angeles

A suspect was in custody and a passenger dead early Tuesday morning, Sept. 25, after a Metro bus driver in South Los Angeles was forced to lead police on a slow-speed pursuit before the bus was stopped in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.

Details about the suspect were not immediately available.

Los Angeles police began receiving calls about 12:45 a.m. in the area of Manchester Boulevard and Figueroa Street, Deputy Chief Donald Graham told reporters. The calls ranged from a disturbance on the bus, to unknown trouble, to possible assault with a deadly weapon.

At some point, “911 Call Police” lit up at the top of the bus’s front end, where the destination usually shows. The alert was likely triggered by the driver.

Officers spotted the bus at 117th and Figueroa streets, but the bus slowly rolled away from officers, Graham said.

Between the time of the calls and the officers’ arrival, several people got off of the coach.

The pursuit lasted about an hour, Graham said. It wasn’t immediately known when the alleged shooting occurred.

“Officers deployed multiple spike strips in an attempt to stop the bus,” Graham said. “And the spike strips were finally effective on the bus in the area … at Alameda Street, just south of Sixth (Street).”

By that time, SWAT officers had arrived because of the potential of a hostage situation, the deputy chief said. SWAT officers used flash bangs and other less-lethal options from outside the bus to try to get the suspect out.

They rescued the driver and one passenger, who had barricaded at the back of the bus. The suspect immediately surrendered and was taken into custody.

On the bus, officers found the man with multiple gunshot wounds, Graham said. Officers and paramedics tried to help him and took him to a hospital, but he died.

“We believe the operator initiated the emergency protocols on the bus,” which set everything in motion, Graham said, adding that police also received multiple calls from the public.

He said the driver of the bus was shaken but in relatively good spirits.

“This operator continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could under the circumstances,” Graham said.

Whether the suspect pointed a weapon at the driver at any point was unknown.

The victim’s identity was withheld by police pending notification of his relatives.

“Metro is grateful for the LAPD’s swift action regarding this morning’s bus hijacking incident and is grateful the operator was unharmed,” Metro spokesman Jose Ubaldo said in a statement. “Metro is providing the operator with the support he needs. “This is still an active investigation being led by the LAPD.”

The hijacking is the latest in a string of violence that has marred the county’s public-transportation system to the point that, in late April, the Metro board voted to beef up security after several assaults led to demands for changes.

LA Metro beefing up police patrols, ‘hardening’ stations to stop rise in violence

Those include the killing of Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez, a teacher visiting from Mexico who was on a Line 108 bus in Commerce when he was shot in the back of the head in an unprovoked attack in May.

Mirna Soza Arauz, 66, was headed home from her job on the B Line train in April when she was fatally stabbed in the neck while at the University City Station in Studio City.

The suspects in both of those cases were later caught and charged with murder.