WASHINGTON, DC, United States (Reuters) — A man hijacked a Washington D.C. bus on Tuesday (May 3) and drove it into a gas station, killing a pedestrian in an incident that was over in less than three minutes, police said.
The bus driver tripped an alarm and fled the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority vehicle after the man attacked him with a weapon, police said.
“It’s very uncharacteristic for someone to try and take a bus and attack a bus driver. As we said, the whole incident occurred in less than three minutes. The officers did a great job in bringing the suspect into custody and not being injured because he was armed with a weapon,” Police Chief Cathy Lanier told reporters. Police did not identify the attacker.
The attacker drove the bus over the curb and into the gas station, hitting a male pedestrian who was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.
Police took the suspect into custody and Lanier said he may have been taken to a hospital.
She declined to describe the weapon. Washington’s WRC-TV, an NBC affiliate, said the suspect put needle-nosed pliers to the driver’s neck when he took over the vehicle.
The driver suffered injuries that police described as not life-threatening. No passengers were injured.
