Metro bus driver wounded by gunfire in Echo Park; one man arrested
A man was taken into custody late Sunday evening, hours after a bullet struck a Metro bus in Echo Park, wounding the driver, authorities said.
The bus was near Coronado Street and Bellevue Avenue about 2:50 p.m. when the driver heard a “popping noise” and a bullet pierced the windshield, Metro spokeswoman Anna Chen said.
The driver didn’t know that he had been wounded until passengers spotted blood dripping from his head, Chen said. None of the passengers was injured.
It was unclear if the bullet grazed the driver’s head or whether glass from the windshield struck him, said Ramon Montenegro, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau.
An eyewitness helped officials identify a 24-year-old man who was arrested in connection with the shooting, Montenegro said. The man’s identity was not released and it’s unclear if he acted alone.
Sheriff’s investigators are trying to determine if the bus was targeted or if it had driven into the path of the bullet, Montenegro said.
The driver was taken to a hospital and is “in really good condition,” Montenegro said.
For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.
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