Accused LA Metro bus hijacker charged with murder, kidnapping – NBC Los Angeles

Prosecutors filed murder, kidnapping, robbery and carjacking charges Monday against the man suspected of hijacking a Los Angeles subway bus last week, killing a passenger and leading police on an hour-long chase through downtown Los Angeles to have led Angeles.

Lamont A. Campbell also faces special charges of using a firearm in the commission of the crime and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

The criminal complaint revealed that at least one of the passengers on the hijacked bus was robbed during the ordeal. However, officials said the motive behind Campbell's alleged actions remains “under investigation.”

Campbell, 51, was arrested last week after LAPD SWAT officers stormed the bus, rescued the bus operator and attempted to save an injured passenger, later identified as Anthony Rivera, who was bleeding from a gunshot wound to the thigh.

Rivera, 48, died at a hospital.

He was riding the Metro bus home from his job at Dodger Stadium when it was impounded.

“I just want justice for my boy,” Rivera’s mother, Teresa, told the I-Team last week as she and other members of her family called on officials to improve safety on public transit.

Several other passengers on the bus were described in court papers filed Monday as victims of various crimes committed during the kidnapping.

Los Angeles County Executive Janice Hahn, who is also the chairwoman of the subway transit system, said what is happening in the subway system is a reflection of the community that surrounds it, which is also affected by crime.

“But when it happens on a subway bus or train, it obviously becomes national news,” Hahn said. “And I think we're not the only city where a bus hijacking has even occurred. I believe this has happened in some other cities around the country as well.”

Hahn said she supports installing some sort of screening system to prevent people from carrying weapons on buses or trains, and said she would like to see a more visible police presence on board.

According to reporters monitoring the proceedings, Campbell was scheduled to make his first court appearance in downtown L.A. on Monday but refused to be brought into the courtroom. Officials expected Campbell to be in court for arraignment on Tuesday.

Court and prison records show Campbell previously served two sentences in state prison for drug trafficking or trafficking convictions and pleaded no contest to a drug possession charge in 2018.

L.A. County District Attorney George Gascón said Monday that there have also been several older violent arrests that did not result in prosecutions, and that Campbell was most recently arrested in 2020 on suspicion of drug sales.