Metro News Release

For immediate release: October 10, 2003

Metrobus operator shot in Northwest Washington

A 50-year-old Metrobus operator was shot in the right shoulder while driving his bus in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood in northwest Washington this afternoon at approximately 2:35 p.m. He was transported to a local hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. It is the first time in Metrobus’s 30-year-history that a bus operator has been shot. The operator has driven a Metrobus since December 2001 and was behind the wheel of bus number 9266, riding route 42 from Mt. Pleasant to Metro Center, when several bullets struck the bus, one striking the driver. The bus was operating on Mt. Pleasant Street where it intersects with both 16th and Harvard Streets when it was struck. The bus operator contacted Metro’s Bus Operations Command Center on his cell phone to report that he had been shot. He had been working a swing shift-both the morning rush hour period and the afternoon rush hour for the day. The Metropolitan Police Department is the lead investigating police agency on the case and is receiving support from the Metro Transit Police Department. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Metropolitan Police at 202-359-4989. Metrobus employs 2,400 bus operators, runs approximately 1,450 buses and moves about 510,000 customers per day.

News release issued on October 10, 2003.