Inset: The L.A. Metro bus whose passenger allegedly witnessed two children being shot by their father (KTLA/YouTube). Background: The Los Angeles neighborhood where the father allegedly killed his two children in broad daylight (KNBC/YouTube).
A 4-year-old and a 10-year-old were fatally shot in Los Angeles in broad daylight, reportedly by their father. Witnesses on a passing Metro bus and people nearby are said to have seen the shooting unfold.
“Oh my God, I was on the bus when it happened,” one witness says in video posted to the Citizen App that showed the aftermath of the shooting, according to local ABC affiliate KABC.
The Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Metro confirmed to local CW affiliate KTLA that a Metro bus was connected to the investigation in Los Angeles’ Pico-Union neighborhood. According to the station, a woman aboard the bus witnessed the incident Sunday afternoon near Catalina Street and Venice Boulevard at about 12:40 p.m. She reportedly shouted for the driver to stop in an effort to help the children.
“Police investigating a shooting in the Pico-Union area have requested video footage from a Metro bus, which was passing through the area at the time and may have captured the incident,” a Metro spokesperson said in a statement to KTLA. “The Los Angeles Police Department is leading the investigation.”
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The suspected shooter, believed to be between 30 and 40 years old, was taken to a hospital after suffering a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He remains in police custody at the hospital, and his condition was not immediately available.
The children, whose names have not been released, were also taken to a nearby hospital. Medical personnel pronounced both of them dead after they arrived, according to reports.
An LAPD spokesperson told KTLA and the Los Angeles Times that investigators were treating the case as a “possible attempted murder-suicide.” Authorities believe the suspect was the children’s father. Police have not released further information.
“He shot himself in the head,” another person is heard saying in the Citizen App footage. The witness repeats the statement moments later.