Local News in Brief : Shuttle Bus Hijacker Was Burbank Man, 26

A man who killed himself Tuesday playing Russian roulette after he hijacked a shuttle bus at Burbank Airport was identified Thursday as James David Stone, 26, of Burbank, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said.

Stone was a drug user and had a history of mental instability, sheriff’s Deputy Bob Nintz said.

Stone boarded the van late Monday night and ordered the driver, Kenneth Page, 55, of Glendale, to drive for four hours before they reached the top of Mount Wilson Skyline Park near Angeles Crest Highway in La Canada Flintridge, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said. There were no other riders on the 14-passenger van.

Page said Stone fired several rounds out of the window of the van, reloaded the handgun, put it to his head and played Russian roulette until the fatal shot. “When I begged the man not to kill himself, he said something about killing me,” the driver said.

“Shortly after I replied that I wasn’t afraid to die, he pulled the trigger.”