ST. LOUIS — Police are investigating after a crash involving a MetroBus Friday night that left a bus driver in critical condition in north St. Louis county.
The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis was called to investigate the crash that happened on the 3400 block of Lucas and Hunt Road, just south of Natural Bridge Road.
The North County Police Cooperative initially responded for a report of shots fired at a MetroBus at 7:10 p.m. When officers arrived, they found a MetroBus that had collided with a utility pole.
At the time of the incident, there were several passengers on the bus. Witnesses report a single gunshot came from outside of the bus while it was moving.
That bullet struck the driver of the bus, whose identity has not been revealed yet. He suffered a gunshot wound to the upper body, officials said. He was taken to the hospital, where he was in critical condition.
No one else was injured.
Taulby Roach, President & CEO of Bi-State Development released a statement regarding the incident:
We are deeply saddened that on Friday evening, one of our MetroBus operators was a victim of senseless gun violence. Tragically, our operator was critically wounded while on duty, serving the community on the #64 Lucas Hunt MetroBus.
We are grieving this unexplainable event and ask the region to pray for the operator and their family. We also ask the public to recognize our heroic workforce who are understandably shaken by this event. Metro operators are true public servants and their bravery in the face of the ills of our region is courageous. They deserve much better than this.
The St. Louis Major Case Squad is handling this investigation, however we can say that our operator was struck by a bullet fired from outside the bus and did not involve any of our patrons. We are fully cooperating with the Major Case Squad, and are providing video resources and any assistance necessary to support their efforts to bring those responsible for this senseless tragedy to justice.
Anyone with information who wants to remain anonymous can call 1-866-371-TIPS (8477). CrimeStoppers is offering rewards of up to $5,000.
This is a developing story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.