Bus drivers help nab suspect in colleague’s killing, Washington officials say
Two bus drivers in Washington helped police find the man suspected in the stabbing death of one of their colleagues, transit officials said.
King County Metro said two of its drivers, Anthony “A.J.” Ross and Timmothy Nelson, each played a role in helping Seattle police track down the 53-year-old suspect.
McClatchy News isn’t naming the suspect pending criminal charges and couldn’t immediately find attorney information for him on Dec. 23.
The suspect was arrested Dec. 21, police said, about three days after the fatal stabbing of driver Shawn Yim after an altercation.
King County Metro said Ross noticed a passenger the morning of Dec. 21 who bore some similarities to the suspect, but also some differences.
After the ride ended, Ross saw the man “change into shoes matching the police description” and called authorities, transit officials said in a Dec. 22 blog post.
The man boarded another bus, and “Ross was able to provide an updated description of the suspect and to assist police in narrowing down the bus that the suspect was likely to be riding,” transit officials said.
That’s where Nelson came in.
He got a call from transit officials asking whether he potentially had the suspect on board, officials said.
“Nelson was able to confirm that the passenger was onboard and then flagged down police officers. Officers boarded Nelson’s bus” in downtown Seattle and made the arrest, transit officials said.
In its description of the arrest, the Seattle Police Department said officers were flagged down by a King County Metro driver about the suspect.
King County Transit said Nelson and Yim knew one another, and Nelson “regularly rode on Yim’s bus to get to work each day.”
Nelson described Yim as “kind and thoughtful,” according to the transit agency.
In an interview with KIRO 7, Nelson said Yim “was always really nice, he was always good with a joke or quip or something like that and was just really caring.”
Yim’s death has been difficult for King County Metro employees, he said.
“Whether they knew him personally or not, (it’s) felt by everybody and it doesn’t compare to his family but among our coworkers, it’s been really hard,” he said.
This story was originally published December 23, 2024 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Bus drivers help nab suspect in colleague’s killing, Washington officials say."
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