LA bus hijacker who left one dead named as 51-year-old Lamont Campbell: Police
(LOS ANGELES) — The man who allegedly hijacked a bus in Los Angeles and led police on an hourlong chase while holding the driver at gunpoint has been identified as Lamont Campbell, a 51-year-old man from L.A., according to the LAPD.
Campbell was arrested on murder charges after allegedly carjacking a bus early Wednesday morning in southern Los Angeles which ultimately left a currently unnamed 48-year-old Hispanic man from L.A. dead after Campbell allegedly shot him with a semi-automatic handgun, according to police.
The incident began at approximately 12:46 a.m. when the Los Angeles Police Department received radio calls about a disturbance on a bus in the area of Manchester Street and Figueroa Street in southern Los Angeles, Deputy Chief Donald Graham said in a briefing Wednesday morning.
“Officers located the Metro bus at South Figueroa Street and West 117th Street. Upon finding the bus, they observed passengers running from it and seeking help from the officers,” LAPD said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “The officers quickly learned from the passengers that there was an armed suspect on the Metro bus. They attempted to stop the bus but were unsuccessful, later discovering that the armed suspect had instructed the driver not to stop.”
Multiple spike strips were deployed by officers during the pursuit, deflating several tires on the bus and ultimately causing it to stop at 6th Street and Alameda Boulevard, according to LAPD.
“SWAT personnel quickly observed that a victim was down inside the bus, formulated a tactical plan, and made entry without delay. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident,” authorities said.
Officers immediately began to render medical aid to the victim who was suffering from gunshot wounds before he was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced deceased, LAPD confirmed.
Police have not yet given a motive in the case but did say that Campbell has since been charged with murder and booked at the 77th Area Jail where he is being held on a $2 million bail.
(NEW YORK) — A trans teenager was allegedly assaulted by a large group of teens in Massachusetts, and police are investigating it as a possible hate crime.
Jayden Tkaczyk, 16, had been at an outdoor party in a wooded area in Gloucester Friday night when the alleged incident occurred.
His attorney, Craig Rourke, told ABC News the assailants “stomped on his head” and “called him the f-slur” during the attack.
“We view this as a hate crime,” Rourke said. “The motives of the perpetrators seem pretty clear in their own words.”
Jayden suffered a broken orbital, permanent nerve damage, a black eye and bruising to the legs and torso, Rourke said, and was treated at a hospital for his injuries. He has since been released.
The Gloucester Police Department said in a press release that the “parties involved in this incident are known to one another.”
A detective trained in civil rights investigations had been assigned to lead the case, police said, and a spokesperson for the department confirmed to ABC News the incident is “being investigated as a possible hate crime.”
“The investigation remains ongoing and no determination has been made at this stage,” the police spokesperson said.
The teen has previously faced bullying for being trans, Rourke said.
Jayden, who attends a local vocational high school, joined the Gloucester High School football team last year but quit after only a few practices because the “bullying got so severe,” according to Rourke.
Jayden told Boston ABC affiliate WCVB-TV the attack began in “a blink of an eye.”
“One second I was having fun, and the next second I was on the ground getting my face stomped and beat up,” Jayden said.
“They were just saying the f-slur over and over and over and over as they were punching me and stomping me,” he added.
His mother, Jasmine Tkaczyk, told WCVB she was “really, really angry” over the incident.
“Seeing the condition he was in, this has always been my worst fear as a mom of a trans teen,” she said.
The Essex County District Attorney’s Office told ABC News they were “aware of the serious allegations of an assault on a Gloucester teenager by other teens.”
“The office is working in conjunction with the Gloucester Police Department on this active and ongoing investigation involving juvenile parties and as such we are unable to provide further commentary at this time,” they added.
Gloucester Public Schools Superintendent Ben Lummis said in a statement that district and school leadership “understands the gravity of the recent allegations and are handling them with the highest level of concern.”
The school district is “actively cooperating” with the police investigation, Lummis said.
“We are very early in what is likely to be a complicated investigation,” Lummis said. “All decisions going forward will be based on the outcome of this thorough investigation.”
Lummis said there were “many rumors and contradictory information circulating on social media” about the incident, and urged students and families “to give the police and the schools time to do methodical and accurate investigations.”
Gloucester Police Chief Edward Conley said they were “treating these allegations with the utmost seriousness.”
“We ask the public to allow the investigation to proceed without rushing to judgment,” Conley said.
(PALM BEACH, Fla.) — The suspect in what the FBI has called an “attempted assassination” of former President Donald Trump was a booster of a number of causes, ABC News analysis of his apparent social media profiles shows.
As authorities tried to unravel the motive and details of the case, sources said investigators were looking at whether Routh was frustrated with Trump’s position on Ukraine. Trump refused to answer when asked if Ukraine should win its war against Russia during the ABC News presidential debate last week.
Authorities recovered an “AK-47-style” rifle with a scope, two backpacks — one of which had a ceramic tile in it — and a GoPro from the scene, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said. The would-be gunman was within 300 to 500 yards of Trump when he was spotted. The former president was unharmed in the incident and it is unclear whether the suspect fired any shots.
Routh’s vehicle was stopped by police after a witness reported his license plate number to authorities. He was placed into custody on Sunday afternoon. Authorities expect to file charges relating to the incident in the coming days, sources told ABC News. The suspect’s motive remains unknown.
Routh is believed to have ties to North Carolina and Hawaii, according to sources. The FBI is conducting an extensive investigation into Routh’s social media activity, travel and any criminal record, sources said. Friends, family and associates are also being sought for interviews.
A law enforcement source told ABC News that profiles on X, LinkedIn, and Telegram are under investigation for a possible connection to Routh. Routh also appears to have operated a Facebook page, which has now been removed, and which listed the same phone number shared on his apparent X profile.
When ABC News dialed that number, an answering machine message said: “This is Ryan with Camp Box Buildings in Hawaii, and also the National Volunteer Center sending soldiers to Ukraine as well as Taiwan.”
Online, he appears to have been a prolific booster of several causes, chiefly of Ukraine’s, with numerous posts referring to an effort to recruit soldiers for that country. Specifically, many of Routh’s posts referred to an effort to send Afghan soldiers to Ukraine.
It was not immediately clear whether Routh had actually recruited any fighters for Ukraine or whether he had any contact with Ukraine’s military or government.
Routh’s apparent X profile contained dozens of posts calling on politicians, celebrities and journalists to support Ukraine. In 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion, posts on that profile contained claims that Routh had traveled to Kyiv.
Routh spoke with an ABC News team in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on April 30, 2022 — two months into the war — at a protest held by family members of Azov Battalion soldiers defending the city of Mariupol against Moscow’s forces.
He was wearing an American flag bandana around his neck and was holding a handwritten sign that read: “Please world we need everyone here. This is good against evil. These children want normal lives … End Russia for our kids.”
Routh told The Financial Times that he had tried to join Ukraine’s International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine — which is made up of foreign volunteers — but was rejected as too old. Routh claimed the Legion then suggested he work to recruit other foreigners to serve in the unit.
The International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine told ABC News via email: “We would like to clarify that Ryan Wesley Routh has never been part of, associated with, or linked to the International Legion in any capacity. Any claims or suggestions indicating otherwise are entirely inaccurate.”
A March 2023 post on a LinkedIn profile appearing to belong to Routh contained two undated photos of Routh, respectively showing him in front of the U.S. Congress and at Kyiv’s Independence Square. The post was captioned, “In DC and Kyiv to provide soldiers for the war effort.”
On June 10, 2020, Routh’s apparent X profile directed a post on X at Trump in which he said had supported Trump in the 2016 presidential election but that Trump had become a “disappointment.” The post concluded, “I will be glad when you are gone.”
Several X posts in March 2020 referred to support for then-Democratic presidential primary candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard. Posts in January 2024 indicated support for former Republican presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Facebook posts from October and November 2023 promoted conspiracy theories about China, COVID-19 and biological warfare. In December, Routh posted to the platform questioning the historical claim of Jewish people to Israel.
Routh’s apparent phone number was also listed on a website for a so-called “Taiwan Foreign Legion,” which calls on international volunteers to fight for Taiwan in the event of a possible conflict with China.
The most recent post on Routh’s apparent Facebook page also refers to an effort to convince Taiwan to accept Afghan fighters.
ABC News’ Pierre Thomas, Josh Margolin, Luke Barr, Aaron Katersky, Jack Date, Peter Charalambous, Alexander Mallin, Leah Sarnoff, Joe Simonetti, Helena Skinner and Zohreen Shah contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — As the embattled cliffside city of Rancho Palos Verdes continues to face indefinite utility shutoffs due to landslide risk, a neighboring Southern California community has lost gas services this week.
Officials from Rolling Hills, an adjacent city on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, announced that SoCal Gas shut off services to 34 homes in the area on Monday.
Additionally, electricity company Southern California Edison announced 51 households are preparing to lose power indefinitely no later than Wednesday evening, according to a statement from Rolling Hills officials.
This means services could be shut off any time before Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. PT, according to officials who note the utility companies are responsible for notifying customers of their service status.
Mayor Leah Mirsch released a statement Monday, saying, “The safety and well-being of our residents remains the City’s top priority.”
“We are all impacted by the outages and are committed to holding the utility companies accountable – pushing them to implement solutions that will restore services both quickly and safely,” Mirsch added.
Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in the Portuguese Bend area of Rancho Palos Verdes as SoCal Gas and Southern California Edison shut off services to nearly 250 residences due to broken pipes and power lines causing hazards.
Residents in the growing landslide zone, which officials said earlier this month had spread about 680 acres over the past year, were advised to leave the area following the loss of vital power.
Photos show foundational damage to multi-million dollar properties and the surrounding roadways have become a reality amid the increasingly shifting landscape.
Newsom said land movement in the area has “significantly accelerated following severe storms in 2023 and 2024.”
Larry Chung, vice president of electric utility company Southern California Edison (SCE), said during a community meeting this month that there’s “no timeframe” for power restoration in the impacted areas due to the instability of the land.
“We can not predict how much the slide will accelerate in the coming weeks and months,” Chung said.
The Rancho Pales Verdes Peninsula is located about 30 miles south of Los Angeles.
“There is no playbook for an emergency like this one,” Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who represents the area, said at a news conference on Sept. 1. “We’re sparing no expense. This is bigger than Rancho Palos Verdes. This land movement is so gigantic and so damaging that one city should not have to bear the burden alone.”
Hahn said at the time the county committed $5 million to respond to the disaster.
It has not been announced if L.A. County’s funding and Newsom’s executive order will extend to the Rolling Hills community.
Charlie Raine, a Rolling Hills resident, told ABC News affiliate KABC-TV he’s worried about his elderly neighbors in the wake of the shutoffs.
“There’s a lot of people that are dealing with this, and it’s overwhelming for them,” he told the outlet. “I’m somewhat capable of doing this for myself, certainly, and I feel sort of obligated to help other people try and get through this.”
Rolling Hills officials said the Rotary Club of Palos Verdes Peninsula is organizing donation efforts for residents who have been affected by the landslide.
Generator and solar installation permits are being expedited to support alternative power solutions, according to officials.