The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said a 55-year-old Los Angeles man was charged with fatally shooting a Culver CityBus driver last week.

Jose Antonio Zayas was charged in case 26CJCF06371 with one count of murder with the special‑circumstance allegation of murder of transportation personnel and a special allegation that he personally used a firearm; he also faces one count of a felon in possession of a firearm, the office said.

The office said the victim was 42-year-old Culver CityBus driver Bruce Rodriguez; on Oct. 1 at about 5 p.m. Zayas boarded the bus, asked Rodriguez to stop and, when the driver could not because of heavy traffic and the bus’s position on South Centinela Avenue, allegedly fired a handgun multiple times, killing Rodriguez. Zayas then grabbed his bike from the front rack and fled; he was found and arrested the next day, the office said.

Los Angeles County District Attorney said, “Bruce Rodriguez was a valued colleague, a beloved father and husband who was tragically killed by a passenger aboard his bus. People relied on him every day to get them to where they needed to go. Our transit systems must be safe for every driver, commuter and community member, and this office will hold individuals fully accountable if they brazenly and violently break the law and shatter that sense of safety.”

Zayas made an initial court appearance yesterday; arraignment was continued to Nov. 5 in Department 30 of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. He is being held on no bail, and the office said if convicted as charged he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Deputy District Attorney Alexander Bott of the Major Crimes Division is prosecuting and the case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery‑Homicide Division.

The charges filed in this case are allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Nathan J. Hochman

District Attorney of Los Angeles County

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