A man shot and killed a passenger on a Los Angeles MTA bus early Wednesday before hijacking the vehicle and leading police on a frantic chase for more than an hour before being caught by a SWAT unit, according to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD).
The dramatic episode began about 12:45 a.m. when police got a 911 call reporting a shooting and subsequent bus hijacking on Figaro Street and Manchester Avenue.
Police said the perpetrator shot at least one person before holding the driver at gunpoint and forcing him to continue north. According to authorities, several passengers were observed departing the vehicle during the hijacking’s early stages.
The LAPD SWAT unit eventually stopped the bus at 2:05 a.m. on South Alameda Street and 6th Street, some six miles northeast of the first hijacking location.
Police used spike strips to slow it down, and it eventually came to a halt before the man barricaded himself inside the vehicle.
Online photographs and a live broadcast from local television reporters show an MTA bus halted on the side of the road, with an armored police car in front of it and an armed SWAT team there.
The perpetrator was apprehended, and the injured victim was transferred to a local hospital in serious condition, but died from his injuries, according to authorities. Police said the event is now being investigated as a homicide.
According to the Los Angeles Fire Department, two additional passengers on the bus declined medical attention. The motivation for the shooting is unknown.