A Hawthorne man who allegedly stabbed a Metro bus operator in the chest in the unincorporated Willowbrook area was charged Friday with attempted murder.
Darnell Marshon Bray, 30, is set to be arraigned Monday at the Compton courthouse on the charge, which includes allegations that he personally used a knife during the crime and personally inflicted great bodily injury, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
The Metro bus operator was driving his bus route about 8:30 p.m. April 13 “when the suspect started yelling at him,” according to a statement released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
“The victim stopped the bus at the intersection of 119th Street and Wilmington Avenue,” according to a sheriff’s department statement. “The suspect, without provocation, punched the victim in the face, then proceeded to stab the victim. The suspect exited the bus and fled northbound on Wilmington Avenue and out of view.”
The Metro bus operator — who was stabbed in the chest — was treated at the hospital for his injuries and released, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Bray was arrested Wednesday by the sheriff’s department’s Transit Services Bureau and has remained behind bars since then, jail records show.
He could face a potential life prison term if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
In a statement announcing the criminal case, District Attorney George Gascón called the attack on the driver “reprehensible” and said “the trauma endured by the bus’ passengers is an appalling act of violence that has no place in our community.”