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Disturbing details emerged Wednesday about the gunman accused of hijacking a Los Angeles Metro bus and fatally shooting passengers and a police lead. The chase ended in a dramatic pre-dawn standoff with SWAT officers downtown.
For more than an hour, a cavalry of police vehicles pursued the bus as it slowly moved from Vermont Knolls in South Los Angeles to downtown, where police used spike strips to puncture the tires and eventually destroy the bus. It was stopped. 51-year-old Lamont Campbell was taken into custody on suspicion of murder after a SWAT team deployed a flash grenade and attacked a bus. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
City leaders acknowledged the hijacking is an example of the challenges they face in keeping passengers safe amid growing concerns about crime on public transportation in Los Angeles. Just four months ago, Mayor Karen Bass called for increased security on transit lines after a spate of violent confrontations.
She addressed Wednesday’s incident at an afternoon news conference, saying the city will explore new ways to detect weapons and protect both public transit passengers and drivers.
“I want to say unequivocally that what happened this morning will not be tolerated. There is no place for it in Los Angeles and those who were arrested must be held fully accountable,” Bass said. “Every Angeleno has the right to live a safe life, especially on public transportation.”
A hijacked Metrobus’ tire was punctured by a spike strip and smoking during a slow pursuit that ended in downtown Los Angeles early Wednesday morning.
(On Scene.TV)
The dangerous trip through downtown ended near Alameda and Sixth Avenue after a tense standoff between the SWAT team that surrounded the bus and the suspect inside. The officer yelled over the loudspeaker, “Metrobus 5858, this is the Los Angeles Police Department.” you are surrounded Please come out one by one with your hands raised. ” The video showed the driver sitting motionless with his hands up.
Video from the scene then showed a series of small explosions from flash bangs deployed by police, before officers with shields stormed inside. One of the passengers escaped through a window, and the bus driver got out of another passenger and ran to safety in the back of an armored vehicle, where officers boarded the vehicle.
Los Angeles County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Janice Hahn called the incident a “real-life nightmare” at a news conference Wednesday and praised the bus driver and police.
“I want to recognize the Metrobus driver whose actions last night were nothing short of heroic,” Hahn said. “With a gunman on board and lives at risk, he had the calmness and means to press the silent alarm and alert both the Metro’s operations center and law enforcement.”
Police said the pursuit began around 12:45 a.m. near South Figueroa Street and Manchester Avenue, when a gunman got on the bus, got into an argument with the driver, and other passengers took off. The passenger was shot dead.
The driver of the hijacked subway bus was able to escape safely.
(On Scene.TV)
One of the fleeing passengers crashed into oncoming traffic and was hit by a car and injured, but four people remained in the bus: the bus driver, the gunman and two passengers.
As dispatchers began to be overwhelmed with 911 calls, the bus driver activated a panic button inside the vehicle to alert police and displayed an emergency message on a lighted display on the outside of the bus. The bus recently had barriers installed to allow the driver to maintain control of the vehicle, which officials said would likely help prevent further tragedies. Barriers are expected to be installed on all Metro buses by the end of the year.
Police spotted the bus and stopped it at 117th and Figueroa just after 1 a.m., but the pursuit continued, police said. At one point, a police officer threw spike strips in the bus’s path, ripping out its tires. At times, the tires of the bus would wear down to the rims and it would drive the wrong way down the road.
Sirens blared downtown and more than half a dozen police cars followed the bus, drawing the attention of cyclists riding alongside it and taking video. One video showed a bus driver waving over a news photographer and the message “911 Call Police” scrolling across a message board.
The driver stared ahead as the camera panned to the other two people in the car. A man wearing a backpack flashed the middle finger at the camera, while a passenger in a nearby seat slumped against the window, pulling the hood of his black sweatshirt over his head. As the chase continued, officers could be heard yelling at the cameraman to stay away from the bus.
When police finally boarded the bus, they found a passenger with multiple gunshot wounds, who was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Their identities have not yet been released by the county coroner. The bus driver and another passenger were treated and released by paramedics at the scene, and Mr Campbell was taken into custody.
“We are grateful to the Los Angeles Police Department for their quick action regarding this morning’s busjacking and are grateful that the driver was safe,” the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority said in a statement.
The driver, who has not been publicly identified, has worked for Metro for more than 10 years. The buses he operated typically ran from Eagle Rock, Highland Park, and downtown Los Angeles to South LA.
County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who also serves on Metro’s board of directors, called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances that led to the hijacking. Metro is providing mental health services to drivers and passengers on the buses, she said.
More than a dozen violent altercations have occurred on buses, trains and subway lines this year. In March, a man hijacked a Metrobus and threatened the driver with a gun that turned out to be fake. The bus crashed into several parked cars downtown and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
In April, Mirna Souza, 66, was stabbed to death on the subway on her way home from a night shift, and a passenger filmed a video of the bus driver calling for help after she was stabbed.
“Metro is part of our community,” Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins said at a press conference Wednesday. “It’s an integral part of the daily lives of millions of Angelenos, and it’s also a reflection of our communities, including criminal activity and weapons that flow from our community’s streets onto our buses.”
Crimes against persons have increased this year through July compared to 2023, according to the Metro Commission’s latest report on system-wide crime. Experts say crimes within the system are generally underreported.
Some riders are concerned about this trend.
Sarah Smith, 39, balanced a stroller while holding her 9-month-old son as she boarded a bus in South Los Angeles late Wednesday morning.
“I feel relatively safe,” she said, but added there was sometimes a “strange energy” on the bus. One day, she said, a man followed her on the bus and yelled, “I’m going to make you wear socks!”
Smith has been riding the bus almost every day for the past two months while saving up for a car. With no other means of transportation, she says she has little choice but to take public transport.
“I just do what I have to do,” she said.
Times staff writers Rachel Uranga, Colleen Shalby and Joseph Serna contributed to this report.
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