By Terri Vermeulen Keith
City News Service
A man accused of fatally shooting a passenger aboard a Metro bus then hijacking the vehicle and sparking a chase from South Los Angeles to downtown was charged on Monday, Sept. 20, with murder and other counts.
Lamont Campbell, 51, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday on charges of murder, carjacking, kidnapping during a carjacking, assault with a handgun, attempted murder, robbery, four counts of kidnapping, felony evading and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to District Attorney George Gascón.
Gascón said Campbell faces 90 years and nine months to life in prison if convicted as charged. He is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
The charges include a sentencing enhancement for personal use of a handgun.
According to the district attorney, a total of six victims are identified in the criminal complaint, including the man who died — Anthony Rivera, 48, of Los Angeles — and the bus driver. Another passenger was found hiding on the bus when Campbell was eventually taken into custody, but there appear to have been other people aboard who managed to escape the vehicle.
The shooting and hijacking occurred about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday near Manchester Avenue and Figueroa Street, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
The bus was pursued by authorities from South Los Angeles to downtown Los Angeles, where SWAT officers arrested the suspect. Paramedics took the wounded man from the bus to a hospital, where died.
LAPD Deputy Chief Donald Graham told reporters that officers initially went to the area of Manchester Avenue and Figueroa Street in response to radio calls of a disturbance and possible assault with a deadly weapon on a bus. Police ultimately found the bus at 117th Street and Figueroa.
“At that point the bus was stopped, and officers from the Southeast Area set up (near) the bus and attempted to make contact with them using their PA systems,” Graham said. “The bus responded by slow-rolling away from the police officers and a pursuit began at that point.
“The pursuit lasted about a hour as officers … stayed behind the bus through a very circuitous route through South Los Angeles into the downtown area,” he said. “Southeast officers deployed multiple spike strips in an attempt to stop the bus, and the spike strips were finally effective on the bus … at Alameda just south of Sixth (Street).”
Graham said SWAT officers had already joined the pursuit, “understanding there was a potential hostage situation that was occurring on the bus.”
Once the bus stopped, officers disabled it to prevent it from moving again, and SWAT officers used “distraction” techniques and boarded the bus, taking the suspect into custody.
The bus driver and the other passenger who had been hiding in the back of the bus were rescued.
The shooting and hijacking again renewed concerns about safety aboard the Metro transit system. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who chairs the Metro Board of Directors, said she wants to see an expansion in the use of weapon-detecting systems — which are being tested at Union Station — across the Metro system to prevent people from carrying guns or other deadly items on buses and trains. The Metro board is expected to receive a report in October on those systems.
Related links
Chair of LA Metro wants more police on buses and trains after hijack and death
1 dead, 1 in custody on suspicion of hijacking Metro bus in South Los Angeles
1 dead in stabbing, shooting at Metro station in Hollywood
Man fatally shot on Metro train in Baldwin Hills; suspects flee on skateboards