Man in LA County randomly shot dead on bus; widow pleads for answers
The grieving widow of a man who was fatally shot in an apparent random attack on a Los Angeles bus says he was a loving husband and father. Now, she seeks answers about his death.
Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez, 32, was riding a Metro 108 Line bus in the city of Commerce just before 5 p.m. last Friday when 30-year-old suspect Winston Apolinario Rivera got onto the bus and sat behind him, the L.A. District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
As the bus came to a stop, Gomez-Ramirez got up to leave when Rivera pointed a gun at his head and fatally shot him before running from the scene, prosecutors said. Rivera was found a few blocks away hiding under a train where he was arrested and later charged with murder.
Gomez-Ramirez, who was on his way to his temporary home from a job, was in the U.S. on a tourist visa with his wife and 17-month-old son when he was shot dead.
His widow, Sarahi Lopez, told Fox News Digital that the family has been staying in the city to visit her mother and brother, who were meeting their young son for the first time. She said the young family planned on returning home to Mexico in July where she and her husband would be returning to work as special educators.
"He was a very responsible man who was always concerned for his mother, his child, his wife and his family," Lopez told Fox News Digital in an interview translated by her attorney. "It hurts me so much to know that somebody who was such a good person would no longer have their life."
The couple was together for 12 years before Gomez-Ramirez’s death last week on the 6200 block of Slauson Avenue, which is about 10 miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles.
Lopez said police have not been forthcoming with answers, which frustrates her.
"The police are so inconsistent with their versions as to what they say happened and did not happen," she said.
Lopez said the family would never have come to the U.S. had she known the dangers that lay ahead for her husband. She vows to get justice for him.
"Just because we are tourists doesn't mean we deserve any less attention or respect. Anybody who's suffering something like this deserves justice," she said.
"And I want to know why [something like this was] allowed to happen and whether or not it was preventable."
The deadly shooting came just hours after Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and board members of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority held a conference to discuss a recent spike in violent crime on the transit system.
The shooting in Commerce was the fourth attack on a Metro bus or train that week, while on Tuesday a person was stabbed in the leg on a Metro bus in Lynwood.
Lopez’s attorney, Mario Acosta Jr., said the city’s public transportation system is unsafe. He noted that a 67-year-old woman from Nicaragua was stabbed to death on an L.A. Metro train last month. She had reportedly been saving money to return home to her country to see her family.
"One undeniable fact is that the Los Angeles Police Department and the L.A. Sheriff's Department get $150 million a year to provide security for the metro – that includes the bus and the trains – and I don't know what that money is being used for, because it's clearly not being used to protect people like Juan Luis," Acosta told Fox News Digital.
Acosta said there was no indication that Gomez-Ramirez knew the suspect or was involved in any nefarious activities.
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He said the police haven’t released much information so far, and he doesn’t know if the bus was equipped with CCTV cameras.
The attorney said he believes that Gomez-Ramirez, sensing something wasn't right, got up to move away from Rivera when the suspect sat behind him.
"‘You know what? Something's wrong. I need to get out of here,’" Acosta said of the victim.
"So, he tried to exit the bus, and before he's able to exit the bus, that's when the shooter kills him and then tries to flee," the attorney said.
Acosta also said they have no idea why the killing took place and that they don’t know anything about the suspect.
"We don't know anything about him, if he was here legally or illegally if he has prior convictions, anything. We don't know anything about him other than just the name. This poor family comes here expecting to be here for just a few months and now look at where they're at."
L.A. District Attorney George Gascón described the killing as a "tragic and senseless shooting [that] claimed the life of a beloved husband and father innocently riding on a Metro bus."
Acosta said Lopez became concerned about her husband’s whereabouts when he didn’t return home that evening. His iPhone tracker showed him moving to the hospital and then back to the scene of the crime. He said police returned to the scene with his phone and belongings.
The attorney said officials need to do more to protect riders from dangerous people boarding buses, pointing to how airline travelers are much better protected.
"You can actually escort that person off the airplane, right? But the buses have absolutely no authority, nothing whatsoever to prevent any of this c--p," Acosta said. "You can literally have somebody with 100 firearms, with a bomb, anything. There's nothing to prevent them from boarding buses."
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He suggested considerations need to be made for bus drivers to carry firearms or make sure police ride the buses as a deterrent.
Meanwhile, Acosta said he is working on getting Lopez and her son longer-term visas to stay in the U.S. while a GoFundMe has been set up to help the family ease their financial burden. It has generated nearly $13,000 so far.
But Lopez said she hasn’t been able to think about the fundraiser as she seeks answers as to what happened.
"Trying to get the information has been my primary focus over the last couple of days," she said.
"I feel obligated to seek out justice. Justice isn't just for me but also for other people who have suffered the way I am suffering right now, losing a loved one in this type of matter on a public transportation system."