Woman Dead, 5 Wounded In Shooting On Greyhound Bus From LA To Bay Area
LEBEC (CBSLA) — One person has died and five others were wounded when gunfire erupted on an overnight Greyhound bus from Los Angeles as it was on its way to San Francisco.
The bus had left Los Angeles at 11:45 p.m. Passengers say most of them were asleep in the darkened bus when, at about 2 a.m., they heard shouting and then gunshots.
Most of the passengers apparently sought safety at the back of the bus. The bus driver immediately pulled over to the side of the freeway, and investigators say heroic passengers disarmed him and started helping the wounded. He was later taken into custody by police.
The driver continued on to the next exit and pulled into a Valero gas station, which has been sealed off for the investigation.
A 51-year-old woman from Colombia was killed. Five others were wounded and taken to hospitals, one of whom was airlifted. Two of the wounded are in critical condition.
The suspect is in custody. He was identified later as Anthony Devonte Williams of Maryland. It's still not known if Williams was targeting someone, or if the shooting was random.
"I've been on 25 years, I've never seen this happen," California Highway Patrol Sgt. Brian Penning said.
The 5 Freeway's Grapevine Road on- and off-ramps were shut down during the investigation.
The passengers were being held and interviewed at a gas station in Lebec. They will eventually be transferred to another Greyhound bus to resume their journey.
Greyhound identified the bus as traveling on schedule 6848-1 in a statement that said, "We are gathering details and will assist the Kern County police in every way possible during their investigation."
