Man shot by sheriff’s deputy after stabbing 2 bus passengers and charging with knife at deputy

A man was shot and wounded Wednesday afternoon by a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy after he allegedly stabbed two passengers aboard a Metro bus and charged at a deputy with a knife, authorities said.

The shooting occurred about 2:45 p.m. when the man refused to exit a bus and later charged at the deputy near Ventura Canyon Avenue and Roscoe Boulevard in Panorama City, according to Deputy Trina Schrader, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Department.

The man, a transient about 55 years old, was rushed to the hospital and is expected to survive, Schrader said.

The incident began when a man boarded a Metro bus in North Hills about 2 p.m. and had an argument with the bus driver, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

After the dispute, he sat in the back of the bus and “suddenly jumped up” and stabbed an 18-year-old man in the neck and a 23-year-old woman in the arm, Schrader said.

The assailant left the bus and the driver alerted authorities and other bus drivers. When the man boarded a second bus, that driver recognized the description of the assailant and notified deputies, officials said.

Deputies intercepted the bus and tried to coax the suspect to leave the bus, but he refused, officials said.

With the knife, the man moved toward deputies and he was struck by gunfire.

The two people who were stabbed aboard the bus were taken to the hospital. The woman’s injuries were not life-threatening. The man stabbed in the neck was expected to survive, officials said.

No deputies were injured.

The deputy who opened fire at the suspect was assigned to the Sheriff’s Department’s transit services bureau, according to Deputy Juanita Navarro-Suarez. The transit bureau provides security and law enforcement services along the Metro bus and rail system.

The incident is under investigation by the Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau as well as the department’s Internal Affairs section. The inquiry will be overseen by the Office of the Inspector General and later reviewed by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office, all of which is protocol whenever a deputy opens fire and strikes a person.

matt.hamilton@latimes.com

Twitter: @MattHjourno.

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UPDATES:

12:25 a.m., Aug. 18: This article was updated with additional details from Deputy Trina Schrader.

This article was originally published at 5:55 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 17.