Los Angeles, armed man hijacks a bus and crashes it into a hotel –

March 22, 2024

Threatening the driver with a gun, a man hijacked a Metropolitan Transit Authority bus in downtown Los Angeles. He then grabbed the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to collide with several vehicles before crashing into a Ritz-Carlton hotel. It happened on the evening of Wednesday 20 March around 11.10pm. At that time there was only the driver on the bus. According to what the police reported, after getting on the bus the man put his hand in his belt and, as if he had a gun, threatened the driver by telling him: “Just drive!”. Police added that the man grabbed the steering wheel as the driver was attempting to turn, resulting in the collision that injured a vehicle occupant. The final crash blew a hole in the wall of a Ritz-Carlton hotel. The man fled, but officers later arrested the suspect and jailed him to investigate the kidnapping. The bus driver was treated in hospital and released. The injured driver is said to be in stable condition. A BB gun was recovered near the bus. BB (or “air soft”) guns are more or less faithful replicas of light weapons that fire plastic pellets (often abbreviated BB, from the English “bullet ball”).