Family, friends mourn bus hijacking victim as alleged gunman is due in court

Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times on Sep 30, 2024

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LOS ANGELES — The family of a man killed during a bus hijacking in South Los Angeles honored his memory over the weekend and called for reforms to the system to protect passengers.

Anthony Rivera, 48, was on his way home from his night shift as a parking attendant at Dodger Stadium when a man with a gun boarded the bus about 12:45 a.m. Wednesday and shot him. Police sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the ongoing investigation said Rivera was killed during an attempted robbery.

The alleged gunman, 51-year-old Lamont Campbell, held the bus driver, Rivera and another passenger hostage for over an hour, according to authorities. Police chased the bus around downtown before a SWAT team stormed it and arrested Campbell. There were no other serious injuries.

On Sunday, friends and family met at a park in Rosemead to honor Rivera.

"We demand more safety for passengers on those buses because what happened to him was an event that should have been preventable," Rivera's cousin, Marylou Mulero, told news station KTTV-TV. She added that he was a "great man and he did not deserve to go the way he did."

At the beginning of the hijacking, calls flooded in to 911 dispatchers as the bus driver activated a panic button that alerted police and triggered emergency messages on the exterior of the bus. The bus had been recently equipped with a barrier that allowed the driver to maintain control of the vehicle, a safety measure that officials said likely helped prevent further tragedy. Such barriers are expected to be installed on all Metro buses by the end of the year.

City leaders acknowledged the hijacking is an example of the challenges they face in keeping passengers safe amid a series of violent incidents

on Los Angeles' public transit systems. Just four months ago, Mayor Karen Bass called for beefed-up security on transit lines following a rash of violent clashes.

Bass acknowledged the hijacking at a news conference later that afternoon, saying the city would explore new ways to detect weapons and protect both riders and drivers on public transit.

"I want to say unequivocally that what happened ... will not be tolerated. It has no place in Los Angeles and the individual who was arrested must be held fully accountable," Bass said. "Every Angeleno has the right to go about their lives safely, especially on our public transportation system."

At Sunday's event honoring Rivera, some of his family wore Dodgers jerseys and others wore black T-shirts with a picture of him in his high school ROTC uniform standing next to his mother, Teresa Flores.

"I say, 'Why, God, why?'" Flores said while surrounded by her family, news station KABC-TV reported.

"I just miss him dearly," she said. "There's so much I want to say and I just can't. I'm just dumbfounded they took my son. He's my right and he'll always be with me, he's my heart."

Family members said Rivera was heading home after working at Dodger Stadium.

"All he wanted to do was just get home safely, but he never made it home," Rivera's cousin Sarah Beck told the news station. The family have started an online fundraiser to help pay for funeral expenses.

Campbell, the alleged hijacker, is expected to be charged and arraigned Monday.