CATS bus driver struck by stray bullet, has life-threatening injuries. What to know.
A Charlotte bus driver was struck by a stray bullet Friday afternoon, police said.
The bullet was fired into the Charlotte Area Transportation Services bus as people in two nearby cars “engaged in a conflict,” according to a Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department news release.
It happened just after 4 p.m. near the intersection of Lasalle Street at English Drive — where two bus stops sit.
One witness told WSOC, The Charlotte Observer’s news partner, that a gunman in a car traveling in the opposite direction was hanging outside the passenger side and shooting at the bus.
Neighbors said they heard three shots fired, WSOC reported, and one bus passenger said the driver was hit in the chest near the clavicle area.
Police said the driver was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries.
CATS shootings and stabbings
The city previously promised CATS would see “new safety measures” after a bus and streetcar hosted both a shooting and stabbing in one month.
On May 4, an argument between two Gold Line streetcar passengers left one stabbed and hospitalized.
On May 18, a CATS bus driver and passenger shot at each other after getting into an argument near Steele Creek’s Charlotte Premium Outlet Mall. The passenger was banned from Charlotte’s public transit system and jailed with several assault charges after a six-day hospital stay. The driver was dismissed from his duties.
The incidents followed the 2022 death of 41-year-old CATS driver Ethan Rivera, who was shot while aboard his bus. CMPD said a road rage incident led to the shooting.
The proposed CATS capital project budget has more than $5.5 million allocated for camera replacements, dispatch upgrades and safety programs for 2024-2028 to increase security on transit routes.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story was originally published December 22, 2023 at 6:03 PM.
