Early Monday morning, a passenger on a Greyhound bus from Los Angeles to San Francisco opened fire on board the bus near the Grapevine, injuring five people and killing one 51-year-old woman.
The shooting occurred around 1:25 a.m. near the north end of the Grapevine on Interstate 5 at Fort Tejon, in Kern County. As NBC Bay Area reports, CHP officers responded to the scene and found the suspect off the bus near the shoulder of the freeway, and he was taken into custody. Six people on board the bus were wounded, including the one woman who was killed, who reportedly was from Colombia.
The bus driver is being praised "heroic" for having handled the situation "professionally" following the shooting, as CHP Sergeant Brian Pennings said in a news conference. As the New York Times reports, Pennings said the driver had been able to talk the shooter into stepping off the bus and leaving his weapon behind.
No motive for the shooting is yet known, and the suspect has not been identified. He was taken into custody at 1:34 a.m.
The bus driver exited the freeway at Grapevine Road after the shooting and stopped at a gas station. All five injured were then transported to area hospitals. There were reportedly 40 passengers on board the bus at the time of the shooting.
According to Greyhound timetables, this bus left Los Angeles at 11:30 p.m. and had scheduled stops in Oakland and San Francisco.
"I've been on 25 years and I've never seen this happen," Pennings said. "It's an unfortunate situation. We're thankful the bus driver acted quickly and was able to get the bus pulled over and stopped and get the situation neutralized without further incident."
Greyhound issued a statement saying, "Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone and every family member impacted by the incident today."
SFist will update this story as we learn more.
Photo: KevinB./Wikimedia