A bus driver opened fire and killed two passengers aboard his vehicle in Miami, Florida.
The shooting occurred early Sunday morning on a Miami-Dade County Transit bus outside a shopping plaza on the corner of Miami Gardens Drive and Northwest Seventh Avenue.
Police in Miami Gardens, a suburb north of downtown Miami, roped off the entire shopping plaza near where the bus was parked, Local10 reported.
Officers responded to a 911 call at around 3am.
Investigators said the bus driver got into an argument of some sort with passengers who were onboard.
During the disagreement, the driver pulled out a gun and shot two male passengers, both of whom were rushed to HCA Florida Aventura Hospital by helicopter in critical condition, police said.
Both men died of their injuries, police added. It’s not yet clear what precipitated the argument that led to the shooting.
The bus driver is being detained by officers as an investigation into the shooting unfolds. It’s unclear if the driver will face any charges, and it’s not known whether any of the passengers were armed.
Pictured: The bus where the shooting took place. It is currently parked outside a shopping plaza in Miami Gardens, a suburb north of Miami
Pictured: Police officers arrived at the crime scene after getting a disturbance call at around 3am on Sunday
Miami Gardens Police (pictured at the scene) still describe the situation as ‘fluid’
Police said the investigation is ongoing, adding that information is ‘fluid.’
A spokesperson for Miami-Dade’s Department of Transportation and Public Works told the Miami Herald that county bus drivers aren’t allowed to use firearms as a weapon for self defense.
‘Transit operators are not allowed to be armed,’ the spokesperson said Sunday, adding that ‘this morning’s incident aboard a Metrobus remains under investigation, and the Department of Transportation and Public Works is fully cooperating with law enforcement.’
County Commissioner Eileen Higgins, chair of the county’s Transportation committee, said she was ‘heartbroken’ by the shooting.
‘Another example of why people shouldn’t have guns,’ she told the Herald in a text message. ‘Two people would still be alive today if there had been a shouting match rather than a shooting match. I’m heartbroken.’
A witness who was coming out of a nearby store at the time of the incident said he heard six gunshots.
‘I don’t know who was hit, I don’t know why they were hit, but I do not like the violence that’s going on in my neighborhood…because this is a beautiful neighborhood,’ he told NBC 6 South Florida.
DailyMail.com approached the Miami Gardens Police Department for further comment.
