EVERETT — An argument on a bus Sunday night escalated into a fight and ended with one man shot dead and another arrested.
It was the first shooting on a Community Transit bus that long-time employees of the transportation agency can remember.
The two men were on a bus southbound on Evergreen Way and had been arguing, according to the Everett Police Department. Gunshots were reported around 8:10 p.m. in the 7700 block of Evergreen Way. Officers tried to save the injured Snohomish man, 33, but he died at the scene. The suspect, a 22-year-old Lake Stevens man, surrendered to police.
No one else was injured, including the driver and two other passengers on the bus.
The suspect told police that the confrontation occurred after the other man tried to smoke drugs on the bus. He said the passenger punched him in the face and he shot him when he thought the other man was reaching for something, according to a police report filed in the case.
The suspect told an officer that “he feared for his life so he pulled out his pistol from his right front pants pocket.” The other passenger was shot twice.
“He said the first shot was accidental, but the second shot was intentional,” according to the police report.
The first shot went into the man’s midsection; the second went into his back, according to the document.
Police said the suspect acknowledged that he never saw a weapon and did not hear the other passenger make any threats to use a weapon.
Video from the bus confirmed that the other passenger hit the suspect in the face and that a fight ensued.
The officer who viewed the video and wrote the police report noted: “At no time during the fight did I see (the other passenger) seemingly reaching for anything.”
No other weapon was found on the bus.
The suspect was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of second-degree murder.
The driver pulled the bus over when it was safe to do so. He called 911, according to the police report.
As is standard when a traumatic event occurs, the driver was placed on two days paid administrative leave, said Community Transit spokesman Martin Munguia. The agency will continue to evaluate how he is doing before he returns, Munguia said.
The Everett Police Department asks anyone with information about the incident to call 425-257-8450 or 1-800-222-TIPS.
Ben Watanabe contributed to this story.
Eric Stevick: stevick@heraldnet.com.
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