The LA Metro bus hijacked near Downtown on September 25, 2024.
The man accused of commandeering an LA Metro bus at gunpoint in South LA, holding a driver and passenger hostage, and of murdering another passenger, previously served time in state prison for transporting or selling controlled substances, records and officials confirmed Thursday.
Lamont A. Campbell was arrested Wednesday by LAPD SWAT officers after the overnight standoff and pursuit, in which the bus passenger died after being shot multiple times, allegedly by Campbell, police said.
Jail records showed Campbell was being held without bail and was expected to make an initial appearance in court Monday.
No criminal charges had been filed in the bus hijacking as of Thursday afternoon.
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Authorities have not shared the name or age of the person who was murdered during the ordeal.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said Campbell, 51, began serving a 5 year term for transportation or sales of a controlled substance in August, 1996, and was paroled in 1998.
Campbell returned to prison in January, 2010 to serve a 6 year term for transportation or sales of a controlled substance with a prior conviction, and was released on parole in 2011.
He was released from parole supervision the next year.
LA County Superior Court records show Campbell pleaded no contest in 2018 to a misdemeanor drug possession charge and was placed on 3 years probation.
The LAPD said officers responding to a shots fired call near Figueroa and West 119th St. early Wednesday spotted a man, later identified as Campbell, boarding the Metro bus.
The bus operator was forced at gunpoint to drive through Downtown and stopped after running over spike strips near 6th and Alameda Streets, where members of the LAPD's SWAT team stormed the bus, rescued the driver, and arrested Campbell.
