LEBEC, Calif. (AP) — A gunman took the life of one passenger and wounded five others before dawn Monday on a Greyhound bus traveling from Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area and the bus driver somehow managed to get the gunman off the bus, the California Highway Patrol said.
The suspect was taken into custody without incident and the motive was not immediately known, Sgt. Brian Pennings of the highway patrol said in a telephone interview.
A 911 caller reported the shooting at 1:27 a.m. as the bus was on Interstate 5 in a mountainous area between Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley, saying a person on board the bus with a gun had shot several passengers, Pennings said.
“The driver of the bus immediately pulled to the right shoulder and somehow — were still trying to figure out to how this happened — were able to coerce the suspect off of the bus," he said.
After leaving the gunman behind, the driver continued to the next exit and pulled into the parking lot of a gas station.
Highway patrol officers found the suspect a few minutes later and detained him, Penning said.
A black handgun believed to have been used in the shooting had been left on the bus, Pennings said.
Pennings said the motive was not known but said there was no indication of terrorism “at this time.”
Witnesses and the suspect were being interviewed and officials did not immediately identify the suspect or the victims.
Pennings said one of the five wounded people was flown to a hospital and the others were taken in ambulances to hospitals.
The shooting happened when the bus was at the top of Tejon Pass, which rises to an elevation of more than 4,100 feet (1,250 meters) in the small community of Lebec
Greyhound said in an email that it would issue a statement soon.