At least one person was dead and five others injured in a southern California shooting on a bus headed from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, according to California Highway Patrol Sergeant Brian Pennings on Monday.
The suspect is in custody and being questioned, Pennings added.
Pennings further said that the dispatchers received a 911 call in early hours of Monday from a passenger on the bus.
According to local media, the shooting occurred on a Greyhound bus en route from LA to the Bay Area.
The bus driver pulled off the road, and the alleged shooter got off, leaving his weapon behind.
The motive for the shooting was not immediately known, and there was no indication the gunman knew any of the victims, Pennings said. He said several ammunition magazines were discovered along with the gun.
The bus was travelling on Interstate 5 near the small mountain community of Lebec, about 70 miles northwest of Los Angeles when the passenger started shooting with a semi-automatic handgun shortly before 1:30 a.m. Forty-three people were aboard, including 6- and 8-year-old children, who were not hurt.
The dead passenger was identified as a 51-year-old woman from Colombia. Two victims were hospitalized with serious injuries, Pennings said.
Passenger Mark Grabban 29 told media that the gunman had been sitting with his leg sticking out into the aisle, muttering to himself incoherently.
“He was just saying weird stuff like ‘you don’t know me like that,’ ‘wait till we get to the station,’ ‘get away from the dude in the striped shirt,’ ” Grabban said in a series of Instagram messages.
Last year, in November, five members of a family, including three children, were dead in a shooting incident at a residence in Southern California.