1 Dead, Suspected Gunman In Custody After LA Bus Hijacking

LOS ANGELES — One person is dead and the accused gunman is in custody after a bus was hijacked in Los Angeles overnight Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Police found the victim on the bus with multiple gunshot wounds early Wednesday, after which they died at the hospital.

The suspect was identified Wednesday afternoon as Lamont Campbell, 51, according to police. Campbell was booked on suspicion of murder, and he's being held in lieu of $2 million bail, according to jail records.

Authorities chased the bus around the city for more than an hour before the bus driver and a passenger were rescued and the suspect was taken into custody, according to police.

Police received the initial 911 report from Manchester and Figueroa streets around 12:45 a.m. Several people exited the bus before police found the bus stopped around 117th and Figueroa streets, police said.

"Officers attempted to communicate with the driver but the bus pulled away and a pursuit ensued," the Los Angeles Police Department wrote on X. "Believing the suspect was armed and still on the bus with hostages, SWAT was requested to respond to the pursuit."

Police ultimately used spike strips to bring the bus to a stop on Alameda south of 6th Street.

The driver and other passenger were "shaken but uninjured," according to police.

County Supervisor Janice Hahn, chair of the Metro Board of Directors, said the bus was equipped with a barrier that protected the driver from the assailant. Hahn, who has called for preventing people from carrying weapons onto buses and trains, said Metro is testing three types of weapons-detection systems at Union Station, and she hopes to expand such a program across the transit system.

South Bureau Homicide detectives are investigating and will search the bus for evidence.

City News Service contributed to this story.