A bus hijacking in downtown Los Angeles has left one person dead and another person in custody, according to police.
At around 12.45am local time on Wednesday, a suspect boarded a bus between Figueroa Street and Manchester Avenue in south Los Angeles and held the bus driver at gunpoint. According to local media reports, there were four people on board, including two passengers, as the suspect ordered the driver to drive.
During the hijacking, the bus driver pressed the emergency button, which in turn flashed “Emergency” and “911 Call Police” on the bus’s front light display. Police pursued the bus, during which the suspect allegedly shot one of the passengers, NBC Los Angeles reported.
Throughout the pursuit, police laid out spiked strips, which eventually caused the bus to come to a halt. Swat officers then surrounded the bus and deployed a flash-bang device that allowed the driver to escape through a window while the suspect barricaded himself inside the bus, KTLA reported.
The Swat team also shot beanbags and stun grenades into the bus and rescued a passenger who had hidden in the back of the vehicle during the hijacking. The suspect was eventually taken into custody and the other passenger, who had been shot, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
In a statement reported by CBS, the Los Angeles metro authority said: “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.”
Speaking at a press conference, Donald Graham, the Los Angeles police deputy chief, said that the bus driver was in “relatively good spirits, although a bit shaken up”, NBC reported.
“This operator continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could under the circumstances, with the police trailing him for an hour before the spike strips finally took effect,” Graham said, adding: “So I think the world of the operator, and this individual and bus operators in general, for the job that they have to do.”
The Los Angeles police department is investigating.
