Suspect arrested Sunday in VTA shooting that left one person dead; victim and suspect reportedly knew each other – The Mercury News

A Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) employee was arrested near his San Jose home Sunday afternoon for the suspected killing of a VTA bus driver he knew, a Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office spokesman said Sunday evening.

The suspect was identified as Duc Minh Bui, 33, sheriff's spokesman Brooks Jarosz said. Neither the victim's name nor the nature of the relationship between Bui and the victim were released, although Jarosz said the two knew each other.

The shooting occurred around 9:40 p.m. Friday in the parking lot of the VTA's Chaboya Division Yard on South 7th Street in San Jose. A 911 call alerted the San Jose Fire Department to the shooting. Emergency crews arrived at the scene and found the victim had been shot at least once. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Jarosz said.

A law enforcement source told the Bay Area News Group that they believe the victim was “targeted.” VTA Executive Director and CEO Carolyn Gonot said Saturday that the shooting appears to be an “isolated incident.”

The shooting occurred more than three years after a disgruntled VTA mechanic shot and killed nine of his colleagues at the VTA Guadalupe rail depot in San Jose before shooting himself.

The May 2021 mass murder, the deadliest in Bay Area history, sparked discussions about long-term improvements to workplace safety at the agency and increased security measures for employees at the murder scene.

The families of those killed as well as a former bus driver have filed multiple lawsuits against VTA, the sheriff's office and Allied Universal, a private security company hired to protect VTA facilities. He claims his post-traumatic stress disorder was exacerbated by the mass shooting.

Friday's shooting shocked and confused VTA employees, said Raj Singh, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union. Some employees had just gotten off work at the time of the shooting, Singh said, while others learned of the shooting through text messages.