A Los Angeles-area bus driver was shot and killed on Thursday afternoon by a passenger after an altercation that the police say may have stemmed from the driver making a wrong turn.
The driver, who works for Culver City Bus and was identified by the Los Angeles Police as a 42-year-old man, was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said. The shooting occurred at about 5:15 p.m. in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Mar Vista.
A police spokeswoman said Friday morning that they have not found the gunman, who officials said was in his 40s and fled on foot or bicycle.
Capt. Eric Eppolito of the Los Angeles Police said in an interview on Friday that there were two other passengers on the bus and that they were unharmed. He added that the case had been turned over to homicide detectives.
He told local media at the scene on Thursday that the gunman appeared to be intoxicated and that the police had not recovered the gun.
“Apparently he was in a verbal dispute with the Culver City bus driver over missing an exit or going in the wrong direction,” Mr. Eppolito told the local reporters. “That kind of escalated to the point where our suspect pulled out a handgun, some type of handgun in a bag, which led to a couple of shots fired.”
Culver City Bus, which operates seven routes that cover more than 30 miles of West Los Angeles communities, canceled service through the weekend to allow the city’s transit workers time to grieve.
“When services do resume, please be kind to our operators and transit team as they navigate this unimaginable tragedy,” Mayor Freddy Puza of Culver City said in a statement.
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