1 Dead After ‘Armed’ Suspect Hijacked Bus in L.A. and Took ‘Hostages,’ Police Say 

One person is dead and another is in custody after police say an armed suspect hijacked a city bus. 

The Los Angeles Police Department shared on X (formerly Twitter) that the incident began when officers received radio calls around 12:34 a.m. local time “related to an incident on a bus in the area of Manchester and Figueroa.” 

Police were eventually able to locate the bus, but when they “attempted to communicate with the driver,” the bus “pulled away and a pursuit ensued.” Police said an “armed” suspect was onboard the transportation system.

“Believing the suspect was armed and still on the bus with hostages, SWAT was requested to respond to the pursuit,” an LAPD spokesperson said. 

LAPD said the pursuit with the bus lasted about an hour before they were finally able to stop the vehicle on Alameda Street using “spike strips.” SWAT deployed “noise flash diversionary devices” before boarding the bus and taking a suspect into custody, police said.

Officers noted that the bus driver and two passengers — one of which had been “suffering from multiple gunshot wounds” — were located on the bus. The passenger who had been shot was transported to the hospital where he died.

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The bus driver and the other passenger were “shaken but uninjured,” police said. The Los Angeles Metro told KABC-TV in a statement that the bus driver was doing okay and that the agency would provide him with support. 

LAPD said homicide detectives have “responded” to “conduct their investigation” and “conduct a search of the bus for evidence.”

After the armed suspect got on the bus, the driver activated a “Call 911” sign on his bus to alert others, per KTLA. The driver, who had been held up at gunpoint, had been behind the wheel during the police pursuit, the outlets reported.

“This [bus] 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,” LAPD Deputy Chief Donald Graham said in a news conference, per KABC-TV.

The LAPD did not identify the suspect in custody nor did it say whether a motive was involved behind the incident.