Shots rang out inside of a Miami-Dade Transit bus in Miami Gardens overnight, leaving two passengers dead, and police said the driver pulled the trigger.
Miami Gardens Police and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units responded to the scene of the shooting at the corner of Northeast Seventh Avenue and Miami Gardens Drive, just after 3 a.m. on Sunday.
“At 183 [Street and] Northwest Seventh Avenue, it’s a bus stop. It’s a violent dispute,” said a 911 dispatcher in radio transmissions.
Witnesses said they heard gunfire.
“I was just coming from the store. I heard six shots,” said an area resident who identified himself as Wave God.
Guilleume Lageur works next door to the bus stop where the shooting happened.
“There was an argument. I hear ‘weh, weh, weh, weh,’ and after a while, I hear the gun bust,” he said.
Investigators said a fight broke out between the driver of the Metrobus and each of those victims broke out, and shortly after, the bus driver pulled out his weapon and fired those deadly shots.
“A group of Black males, one is on the bus now. Now the driver is calling 911,” said a 911 dispatcher in radio transmissions.
“Sometimes even passengers, passengers want to fight,” said Lageur.
“They were probably just trying to get to their next destination, and then somebody just decided to take their life, and that’s not even fair,” said Wave God.
People in the area were shocked by what unfolded.
“I never knew bus drivers could ride with a gun,” said Lageur.
But a spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Department of Transportation confirmed that transit operators and not permitted to carry firearms on the job.
Paramedics transported both men to Aventura Hospital shortly after those shots rang out. They were later pronounced dead.
“I do not like the violence that’s going on in my neighborhood, in Miami Gardens,” said Wave God, “because this is a beautiful neighborhood, and I don’t think that people should be committing genocide against one another.”
The bus driver was detained, but authorities have yet to reveal the identities of the three people involved or specify the circumstances leading up to the shooting.
Miami Gardens Police’s Homicide Unit continues to investigate. Detectives have not announced any charges as of Sunday night.