Alleged Shooter of MTA Bus Driver Pleads Not Guilty

A man who allegedly shot and killed a Metro driver shortly after boarding the victim's bus last month pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder.

Anthony Craig Chambers, 41, of Los Angeles, is charged in the May 20 slaying of 51-year-old Alan Thomas, who had worked for the Metropolitan Transportation District for five years.

The murder charge, filed May 22, includes the special circumstance allegations of lying in wait and murder of transportation personnel.

Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek a death sentence against Chambers, who allegedly pulled a shotgun from a suitcase, approached the  driver and shot him twice shortly after boarding the bus.

Chambers was detained after he was seen climbing out of the window of the bus on Santa Monica Boulevard west of La Cienega Boulevard following the
shooting, which occurred shortly after 9 a.m on May 20, according to a sheriff's
spokeswoman.

Thomas died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center less than a half-hour later.

Metro spokesman Rick Jager said Thomas had been driving a Route 105 bus east on Santa Monica Boulevard when he was shot by a passenger. Route 105 runs from West Hollywood south on La Cienega Boulevard, and then east on Vernon Avenue. An MTA bus yard is located near that intersection, which is one block from the West Hollywood sheriff's station.