Update:
The shooting suspect has died, according to Seattle Police.
A 67-year-old Metro bus driver has been taken to the hospital after suffering multiple gun shot wounds this morning.
The shooting happened just before 9 a.m. at 3rd and Union on a Route 27 bus; the suspect then fled to 2nd and Seneca, where he was shot by police as he boarded another bus on Route 120. The intersection is closed off and six bullet holes can be seen toward the front of the bus, still in the intersection. Its sign is still flashing the route: Westwood Village to Downtown Seattle.
According to Forrest Pettrich, who was in the Starbucks at Seneca and 2nd at the time of the shooting, people streaming off the bus told him the shooter was attempting to hijack the bus.
The shooting scenes are snarling traffic as it prevents drivers from exiting the Viaduct at Seneca.
The bus driver has non-life-threatening injuries and was able to walk off the bus after he was shot. The suspect has life-threatening injuries and was taken to Harborview Medical Center.
Two officers were injured by the suspect, but the nature and extent of those injuries is not known.
KIRO is identifying the suspect at a 25-year-old male, and reports that the shooting occurred after three men got on the bus and refused to pay. KIRO reports the shooter was not among the three men, but began yelling “war” when the bus driver confronted the three men.
We are collecting more information and will update this story as we learn more.
See also:
Our 1999 profile
of the last man to shoot a King County Metro bus driver, Silas Cool:
The Silas File
This report was updated to correct initial reports stating the driver was shot at 2nd and Seneca.
