Subway bus hijacker faces murder charges after killing passenger: DA

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (AP) — A man accused of leading police on a chase through Los Angeles on a hijacked Metro bus after fatally shooting a passenger was charged with murder Monday, according to the district attorney's office.

Lamont Campbell, 51, was charged with murder, carjacking, kidnapping during a carjacking, assault with a handgun, attempted murder, robbery, four counts of kidnapping, evading a felony and possession of a firearm. He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Campbell is accused of boarding a subway bus at the corner of Figueroa Street and Vernon Avenue in South LA on September 25 around 12:30 p.m. He pulled out a gun and shot a passenger, Anthony Rivera, several times, prosecutors said.

Campbell then threatened the driver with the gun and told him to drive. According to prosecutors, he also threatened other passengers with a weapon and robbed one passenger.

Police unsuccessfully attempted to stop the bus, leading to a chase that lasted more than an hour. Officers deployed spike strips that brought the bus to a stop on Alameda Street, south of 6th Street in downtown LA.

“Lamont Campbell’s hijacking of a Metro bus and murder of a passenger returning home from work sent shockwaves throughout the city,” Supervisor Janice Hahn, Metro’s board chair, said in a statement. “I appreciate District Attorney Gascón’s attention to this case and the quick filing of this indictment. People need to be able to use our public transit system and feel confident that they will get home safely, and I will continue to advocate for weapon detection technology and other solutions to protect our passengers from people who want to harm them .”

Prosecutors are asking that Campbell be held on $5.575 million bail.