Suspect arrested in carjacking, shooting of DART bus driver
DALLAS - DART said one of its bus drivers was shot and carjacked when he was going to his car when his shift was over.
This happened just after noon on Thursday at the J.B. Jackson Jr. Transit Center near Fair Park.
DART said a suspect, a woman, was arrested.
The DART bus operator was shot in the middle of the day and his personal vehicle was stolen.
Bus driver shot at Dallas DART station, personal vehicle stolen
A DART bus driver was shot Thursday. The gunman also stole the driver's personal vehicle, police said.
"He was shot. Then the suspect, unfortunately, took his keys and left with his vehicle," said Gordon Shattles, with DART.
Shattles said DART police officers were able to track the stolen car and arrest the suspect, a woman, near Mesquite.
"DART Police Department did a fantastic job of following the suspect. Very easy to identify because she was in the victim’s car. Very quickly took her into custody without any further concerns," he said.
The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, was jailed on a charge of aggravated assault of a public servant.
The bus operator's car was recovered.
"The bus operator is on the mend," Shattles said.
DART would not say whether the suspected carjacker's gun was recovered, saying that's part of the ongoing investigation.
DART has recently upgraded security at stations and on trains because of growing crime issues, but said something like this is uncommon.
DART adding armed security guards on its trains to help bring down recent rise in crime
DART officially has new armed security guards riding on its trains in an effort to cut down on rising crime on its trains and at its stations.
"This is a very rare occurrence. The last thing we want is anything to happen like this. One to our employees, but our riders as well," Shattles said.
DART was unable to say if there were any security guards present in the parking lot at the time of the shooting.
There were no DART police officers present.
In July, DART announced it hired more than 100 additional transit security officers to improve safety and security.
That's in addition to its more than 250 DART police officers.
But, just last month, a man was murdered on the DART Bachman train station during rush hour.
1 person killed in shooting at DART Bachman train station
Police have no arrests or suspects in a deadly shooting that happened during rush hour at a DART station Tuesday.
As of Friday, DART said no arrest has been made for that killing.
"The goal, of course, is to make sure we have a security presence on all of our platforms, 65 in total. As well as on all of our trains," Shattles added.
The operator was rushed to Baylor Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and is expected to recover.
DART police are leading the investigation.