Charlotte bus driver dies day after being shot in uptown
CHARLOTTE NC Feb 15, 2022 — A Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) bus driver has died a day after being shot in uptown Friday night, police said.
Officers responded to a shooting at around 9:30 p.m. on West Trade Street near South Graham Street.
Once police got to the scene, they found a CATS bus that had gone off the road, and inside, a bus driver who had been shot.
The driver, later identified as Ethan Rivera, 41, was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Officials said he died Saturday.
There were four other passengers on the bus who were not hurt, according to police.
Reporter Glenn Counts spoke with other bus drivers who said they were stunned from the incident.
“His classmates that he was in class and training with, they are really upset by this. We’re all upset,” one driver said.
“He was a good co-worker. I think he’s been in Charlotte less than two years, but every time you saw him he was always smiling. Always smiling,” another driver said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said this is now a homicide investigation. Police sources also told Counts the shooting may have been linked to road rage.
On Sunday, CATS released a statement calling Rivera’s death a senseless act of violence.
“Ethan was a public servant and valued member of the Charlotte community. We grieve with his family during this time,” CATS said.
No arrests have been made at this point.
“We worry every day. We worry and we pray that we make it home the same way we made it to work,” a driver said.
On Friday, a viewer told Channel 9 they were in their kitchen when they heard what sounded like a very loud firework.
“It echoed against buildings in this area, and for a second I thought it was a firework, like somebody playing a joke, but immediately after the sound, I heard a car crash, and it was the bus running off the road,” viewer Connor Parsons said.
Other bus drivers told Counts that it would be a huge relief to them if police are able to make an arrest.
Anyone with information on this case is asked to call 704-432-TIPS and speak directly to a homicide detective.
No other details have been released at this point.
WSOC
