Bus shooting in Florida leaves 2 dead and 2 injured
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MIAMI (NYTIMES) - A gunman fatally shot two people and wounded two others aboard a public bus in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Thursday afternoon (March 17) near the city's police headquarters, the authorities said.
The bus driver was being credited with quick thinking in driving straight to police headquarters - even ramming a car blocking the way and driving in the oncoming lanes. Shortly after the bus came to a stop in a carpark, a suspect surrendered as paramedics attended to the victims.
The two people who were wounded were taken to a hospital after the shooting, police said on Twitter.
One was in critical condition and the other was in fair condition, a spokesman for Broward Health Medical Centre in Fort Lauderdale said.
It was unclear what prompted the shooting. After it started, the driver of the Broward County Transit bus forced the bus into a turn lane and then "barrelled through" a vehicle that was blocking the bus to get to police headquarters, Mr Luis Alvarez, acting interim chief of the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, said at a news briefing on Thursday afternoon.
"To get to the front of the police station, have that presence of mind, pretty much saved lives," Mr Alvarez said, adding that the driver deserved to be applauded for minimising the damage on the road.
At one point, the driver, who was not injured, crossed over onto the opposite side of traffic, Mr Stephen Gollan, battalion chief of the Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Department, said in an e-mail.
Once the bus arrived at the police building, an officer who was outside heard gunshots coming from the bus before the gunman came out and surrendered, Mr Alvarez said.
Three people sustained minor injuries from the crash as the bus hurtled towards police headquarters and were treated at the scene, police said.
