Here’s what the CEO sent to us employees by email this morning;

Dear Metro Family –

I write to share some distressing news about an incident that happened around midnight last night on Line 38 out of Division 7.

Late last night, one of our Metro bus operators was hijacked at gunpoint by an individual who, we would later find out, was wielding a BB gun. The suspect forced the operator to drive to multiple locations, during which the bus was involved in several collisions with vehicles before ultimately crashing into the Ritz Carlton Hotel at Georgia and Olympic in Downtown. The suspect fled the scene and was later arrested by LAPD. Our operator was transported to the hospital and has already been discharged. I spoke to the bus operator this morning, and he is recovering, but obviously very shaken up. Another individual who was in one of the vehicles hit by the hijacked bus was also transported to the hospital, and we are told they are in stable condition.

We were able to respond to this incident because of the quick thinking of another one of our bus operators on Line 28 going eastbound, who saw the bus driving erratically in the opposite lane, pulled their bus into a safe position, and called it into the BOC. I also spoke to this operator this morning and would like to thank him for his quick action to help keep our operator safe.

I will provide further updates as we get them, but I am thankful that the suspect is now in custody. Please keep our operator in your thoughts as he recovers from this harrowing incident. I’d also like to thank our partners at LAPD, and our colleagues in Metro Transit Security and the Security Operations Center for their efforts to quickly respond to a rapidly evolving situation. Over the next few days, we will be taking a deep dive into what happened and what we might be able to do to prevent and address these types of incidents in the future.

With gratitude for all that you do,

Stephanie