One dead after hijacked bus speeds through LA with driver held at gunpoint
(LOS ANGELES) — At least one person is dead after a Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus was hijacked with the driver being forced to drive at gunpoint before police were able to apprehend the suspect, according to authorities.
The incident began at approximately 12:45 a.m. when the Los Angeles Police Department received radio calls to a disturbance on a bus in the area of Manchester Street and Figueroa Street in southern Los Angeles, said Deputy Chief Donald Graham in a briefing to the media Wednesday morning. Initial reports said that there was a potential assault with a weapon before officers discovered the bus stopped at 117th St and Figueroa St.
However, when the LAPD tried to make contact with the people on the bus, the bus started to pull away from the responding officers which led to an hourlong pursuit into the downtown area, officials said.
The bus eventually ended at Alameda St. and 6th Street at approximately 2:10 a.m. after police deployed multiple spike strips and were able to puncture a tire on the right side of the vehicle. On the bus there were two passengers, the driver and suspect.
A SWAT team was immediately called in to assist in the hostage situation and were able to get on the bus and rescue two people, the driver and a passenger, Graham said in his briefing to the media.
The suspect surrendered immediately and was brought into custody. However, when police were clearing the bus, a fourth person was found on with multiple gunshot wounds.
The victim was taken to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries. Two other patients declined treatment, authorities said.
(LOVELOCK, Nev.) — Authorities are investigating the death of a female attendee who died on the first day of the Burning Man Festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert.
Burning Man’s emergency services personnel found the victim unresponsive around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the Burning Man Project. Deputies responded and confirmed her death, Pershing County Sheriff Jerry Allen said.
“This death will remain under investigation until a Cause and Manner can be determined, which will be updated at the conclusion of an autopsy,” Allen said in a statement.
Her name and age have not been released, pending notification of next of kin.
“Our thoughts and condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this loss,” festival organizers said in a statement. “The safety and well-being of our staff and community are paramount. We are cooperating fully with local authorities as they investigate. … Out of respect for the privacy of the grieving family, we will not be providing further details at this time.”
This year’s Burning Man festival runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2. About 80,000 people attend Burning Man each year, according to the festival’s website.
Last year’s festival was marred by torrential rains, with thousands mired in mud and told to stay in place and conserve food until they could safely exit the festival grounds.
(NEW YORK) — Ashley Benefield, the woman at the center of the “Black Swan” murder trial, was convicted of manslaughter on Tuesday night.
The jury in the trial of the ballerina who had been accused of killing her husband, Doug Benefield, returned its verdict late Tuesday night in a Florida courtroom.
She faces up to 30 years in prison. Her sentencing date has yet to be determined.
Ashley Benefield’s attorney argued that she was trapped in an abusive relationship, stating that Doug Benefield was a manipulative, controlling and abusive man. She had argued she killed her husband in self-defense. Prosecutors had accused Ashley of wanting sole custody of the couple’s daughter Emerson.
“This case is about a woman who, very early on in her pregnancy, decided she wanted to be a single mother,” prosecutor Suzanne O’Donnell said. “Her husband and everything she did from that point on was to attain that goal and she would stop at nothing to attain that goal. When there was no other option, she shoots him and kills him and claims self-defense.”
According to court documents filed by the defense, Ashley claims Doug struck her in an incident on Sept. 27, 2020, hitting her on the side of her head, and then tried to keep her from leaving the room.
Ashley claims she feared for her life, shot Doug multiple times in self-defense, and then ran to her neighbor’s house.
(LONDON, Kent.) — As the hunt for the suspected gunman in an eastern Kentucky interstate shooting that left five people injured entered its sixth day, Gov. Andy Beshear said law enforcement officers will be posted at high school football games and stationed along school bus routes in an attempt to ease fear in nearby communities.
Beshear on Thursday said four of the victims shot in Saturday’s sniper-like attack on Interstate 75 near London, Kentucky, have been released from hospitals and that the fifth victim is also expected to survive.
The governor said he is confident that law enforcement teams with the help of agents from the FBI, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives will catch suspect Joseph Couch and bring him to justice.
“I don’t yet have the evidence in front of me of what fully led him to this point, but there’s no excuse,” he said. “When you put a plan in place to take the lives of our fellow human beings and try to take as many of them as possible, you can and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Beshear said the Kentucky State Police believe Couch, 32, is still in the thick woods of the 708,000-acre Daniel Boone National Forest, which he described as “some of the most rugged terrain that anyone could hide in.”
Kentucky State Police Commissioner Phillip “PJ” Burnett said more than 100 officers are combing the forest, where on the day of the rampage investigators found an AR-15 rifle believed to have been used in the the shooting as well as Couch’s vehicle abandoned on a forest road.
“We have no significant updates at this time, but we are following up on leads,” Burnett said.
The commissioner said police are using sophisticated technology in the search, including Kentucky National Guard Black Hawk helicopters, aircraft equipped with thermal imaging and multiple K-9 units, including cadaver-sniffing dogs and FBI bloodhounds brought in from Illinois.
Burnett said the search, which has focused on the area near I-75’s Exit 49, is being expanded in the Daniel Boone National Forest.
“We will keep working until we exhaust every single lead,” Burnett said.
Beshear said he’ll consider deploying National Guard troops to the forest to help in the ground search.
“Right now what was requested is some aerial assistance. The Black Hawks have proven to be very helpful. Right now we don’t have an extra request, but that’s something we would certainly look at,” Beshear said of deploying the National Guard on the ground.
However, Beshear said investigators believe Couch could still be armed and dangerous.
“This isn’t the type of search where you can put a whole bunch of people out there at once because this is an individual that we believe is still armed, would be very difficult to spot and we want to make sure we don’t lose anybody throughout this,” Beshear said.
According to an arrest warrant, Couch, a former member of the U.S. Army Reserves, is wanted on charges of attempted murder and first-degree assault. A $35,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his capture.
Couch was allegedly involved in a domestic dispute on Saturday morning and legally purchased an AR-15 rifle and ammunition at a gun store hours before allegedly opening fire on vehicles traveling on I-75, law enforcement officials told ABC News.
Up to 30 rounds were fired from a hillside near Exit 49, officials said. At least 12 vehicles were struck by gunfire, leaving five people with gunshot wounds, including one victim who was shot in the face, officials said.
Investigators said they believe all of the victims were shot at randomly and that Couch had no previous contact with any of them.
Before the interstate shooting, according to the arrest warrant, a Laurel County 911 dispatcher received a call from a woman who alleged Couch texted her and “advised he was going to kill a lot of people. Well try at least.” The text message was sent to the woman at 5:03 p.m. Saturday, about a half-hour before the interstate shooting started, according to the arrest warrant.
“Couch sent another message to [the woman] that read, in part, ‘I’ll kill myself afterwards,” according to the arrest warrant.
London city officials told ABC News the woman Couch texted is the mother of his child.
Burnett said Thursday that the police “understand there is fear in the community.” To ease fears, he said state troopers and officers will be posted at every high school football game in Laurel County on Friday night.
Beshear said the presence of law enforcement officers is being boosted at area public schools and that state police are helping local police with some bus routes to ensure students get to school safely.
The governor implored citizens not to turn Couch into a folk hero for evading capture.
“There is no notoriety, there is no celebrity in committing an act like this,” Beshear said. “There’s just evil.”