Pedestrian killed in attempted hijacking of DC Metrobus

A pedestrian was killed on Tuesday after a man attempted to hijack a city bus in Washington, according to police.

 

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier confirmed to reporters that a suspect is in custody for attacking a Metrobus driver. The pedestrian was struck and killed after the bus drove over a curb in the parking lot of a gas station, she said.

 

Lanier said that the suspect in the hijacking, described only as an adult male, was “very distraught and violent.” 

“He did have a weapon of some sort,” Lanier said, declining to provide more details.

The incident lasted less than three minutes, according to Lanier, who said that the bus had security footage of the alleged assault.

“It’s a bizarre incident, very uncharacteristic for someone to take a bus and attack a bus driver,” Lanier said.

The attempted hijacking was reported near Minnesota and Nannie Helen Burroughs avenues in the city’s Northeast quadrant shortly before 11 a.m., authorities said.

D.C. police chief spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said the suspect entered the bus at a nearby intersection on Jay Street NE. At the next stop, he allegedly attacked the bus driver while passengers managed to exit the bus through its back entrance. 

While the suspect’s weapon was likened to a pair of pliers, police officials declined to provide an exact description.

The bus operator suffered minor injuries but no passengers were hurt, according to transit police.