‘He was doing his job’: Mother of slain CATS driver pleads for help finding his killer
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Shooting of a Charlotte bus driver
Ethan Rivera, a 41-year-old bus driver for Charlotte Area Transit System, died Feb. 12, 2022, a day after being shot aboard his CATS bus. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say a road rage incident led to the shooting.
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The mother of CATS bus driver Ethan Rivera pleaded with the public Tuesday for their help in identifying the suspect in her son’s fatal shooting.
Rivera was shot around 9:30 p.m. Friday in the 500 block of West Trade Street near Graham Street, the result of road rage, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said. The 41-year-old father of two died at a hospital on Saturday.
“Ethan was a good man,” Sylvia Rivera said during a CMPD news conference Tuesday. “He was coming into his own, and he was doing his job, driving a freaking bus.”
Police released photographs captured by cameras on Rivera’s bus that show the suspect in a 2003-2005 black Honda Pilot. The SUV has running boards down its sides, and its backup lights are large squares next to the license plate, police Capt. Joel McNelly said.
“We stand before you with Ethan’s family issuing a plea for help from the community to solve this homicide,” McNelly said.
“Please somebody if you know anything, say something,” Sylvia Rivera said. “This animal has to be taken off the street. If it happened to my son, your child could be next because this person didn’t seem to care who Ethan was or who he was leaving behind.”
None of the four passengers on Rivera’s No. 22 Graham Street bus were injured, CMPD said.
The suspect remained in his vehicle during the shooting, and there’s no evidence to suggest another person was in the SUV, McNelly said.
On Monday, CMPD Capt. Brad Koch said there’s “no indication” the bus driver’s actions led to him becoming a victim.
McNelly on Tuesday urged the suspect to call 911 and turn himself if.
“Know that if you see yourself and you don’t do that, we’re going to be coming for you and we’re going to find you,” he said.
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‘They don’t have a dad’
Ethan Rivera moved to North Carolina from New York two years ago to provide a better life for his son and daughter. He worked for CATS for just over a year, CEO John Lewis said Monday.
“His kids are going to be brought up, and as much he loved them and moved down here for them. Now they don’t have a dad,” Sylvia Rivera said. “He’s my oldest son, and I don’t even know what to do.”
The Rivera family is accepting donations through a GoFundMe page.
Mothers of Murdered Offspring, a nonprofit focused on supporting mothers who have lost children, will have a candlelight service for Ethan Rivera at Camp Greene Park, 1221 Alleghany St., at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Police ask that anyone who may have seen the shooting or have other related information to call 704-432-8411 (TIPS). Information also can be left anonymously by contacting Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600 or charlottecrimestoppers.com/.
Crime Stoppers is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of the suspect in this shooting.
“He had a tremendous heart and smile,” Sylvia Rivera said. “They took all that away from us.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2022 at 3:02 PM.
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