Video captures man getting pistol-whipped and shot on RideKC bus

A fight on a RideKC bus in downtown Kansas City on Sunday morning ended with a man being shot.

Surveillance video captured the altercation, which happened about 9:45 a.m. near Petticoat Lane and Main Street.

The video shows the victim fighting with another man at the back of the bus. Other riders were on the bus, including children.

At one point during the altercation, the man pulled out a handgun and hit the victim several times with it. The man then shot the victim, grabbed his own backpack and got off the bus, police say.

A witness told police that before the shooting, the victim had been physically aggressive toward the alleged gunman. During the altercation, the gunman pulled out a weapon, held it in the air and told the victim to stop, the witness told police.

The victim, however, continued to try to assault the gunman. The gunman struck the victim in the head with the gun. The witness told police that the gunman shot the victim in the back after he continued to try to assault the gunman. The gunman then fled but later was reportedly taken into custody.

When an officer tried to talk to the victim, he lunged and tried to assault the officer. The officer placed the victim on the ground until an ambulance arrived and took him to a hospital.

The shooting is the second recent violent incident aboard a RideKC bus. Late last month, a passenger assaulted a bus driver. Another passenger came to the aid of the bus driver by using his cane to strike her attacker.

The Kansas City Area Transportation Authority rewarded that passenger, Rodney Goldman, with two new canes, a lifetime bus pass and a thank-you card signed by transit workers.

Such incidents are rare on RideKC buses. Last year, there were more than 15.9 million trips taken on the transit service. Of those, there were 10 assaults on operators and fewer than 20 assaults on passengers.

“I don’t think these are transit issues; I think these are community issues,” said Robbie Makinen, president and CEO of the transportation authority.

“Safety and security is our No. 1 priority. That’s our No. 1 goal at the KCATA, and you see by the stats that we have actually put our money where our mouth is.”

Last year, the KCATA was awarded first place in the Safety and Security categories from the American Public Transportation Association.

As part of its safety and security efforts, the agency will have a total of 75 buses with security partitions for its operators.

The transit agency also has sent about 460 drivers through assault prevention and conflict resolution training offered by Rutgers University’s National Transit Institute.

“We were the first organization in the nation that went through this training with all of our drivers,” said Sam Desue, the KCATA’s chief operating officer.

“The most precious cargo that’s on that bus is that human life, so our priority is to make sure we provide every resource to our drivers to make sure that the public and the employees are safe when they are out operating the buses.”

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Video captures man getting pistol-whipped and shot on RideKC bus."