Bridget Reed Morawski
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) One suspect is in custody after attacking a Metro bus driver and hijacking the bus on Minnesota Avenue NE on Tuesday morning.
The violent passenger attacked the driver as the bus arrived at a stop at the 800 block of Kenilworth Avenue NE. The suspect then attacked the driver with an unidentified weapon, and seized control of the vehicle as the bus driver fled.
DC Police Chief Cathy said that the Metro driver was able to press an emergency button inside the vehicle before exiting, which allowed police to quickly respond to the scene and take the suspect into custody moments later. The entire incident lasted less than three minutes.
The bus was then driven over a curb at a nearby gas station, then mounted over a second curb within the parking lot, where it struck and killed a male pedestrian.
Chief Lanier said that the suspect had been taken to a local hospital, and that he had appeared “distraught and violent” as he resisted arrest.
“It’s a bizarre incident,” said Chief Lanier. “[It’s] very uncharacteristic for someone to try to take a bus and attack a bus driver.” Chief Lanier also commended the responding officers for quickly and efficiently capturing the suspect, and for doing so without being injured by the armed assailant.
It was originally reported that a number of juveniles were involved, and that a teenager stabbed the bus driver with a screwdriver, then taking the bus for a joy ride. However, police now have announced that no juveniles are suspected of the crime, and that only one suspect, an adult male, has been taken into custody.
The pedestrian has been pronounced dead, though the driver of the bus was not seriously injured and passengers were able to flee the bus the moment the attack began.
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