A hostage crisis that played out aboard a Los Angeles bus this week ended with one passenger dead, according to reports.
The harrowing incident unfolded just before 1 a.m. on Wednesday in the City of Angels.
A Metro bus was traveling on its route in South Los Angeles when an armed suspect hijacked the vehicle at gunpoint, taking the driver and two riders hostage, ABC 7 reports.
A gunman commandeers a Metro bus in DTLA, forcing the driver into a wild chase with LAPD before the hijacking comes to an explosive end. One hostage on the bus is shot during the overnight ordeal. Eyewitness News is live on scene with breaking updates. This morning at 6 from ABC7 pic.twitter.com/lHl9pPRSb4
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) September 25, 2024
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers approached the bus but it rolled away, sparking a lengthy, low-speed pursuit as the driver was reportedly ordered to keep moving.
After more than an hour, authorities managed to successfully neutralize the vehicle with spike strips in downtown LA.
After it came to a stop, a SWAT team stormed the bus, arresting the suspect and freeing the driver and passengers.
BREAKING: New video that just came across our #LiveDesk feeds shows a passenger escaping from this Metro bus that was hijacked overnight in Los Angeles.
— Steve McCarron KOMO (@SteveTVNews) September 25, 2024
1 passenger was shot and killed.
The suspect is now in custody. https://t.co/1P4CKscx08 pic.twitter.com/2DBRCImqAh
One hostage was reportedly shot multiple times onboard and later died at a local hospital.
No information about the suspect has been made public at the time of this writing.
“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,” Deputy Chief Donald Graham with LAPD’s Transit Services Division said in a statement.