Photo of the crime scene (Luke Duecy, KIRO)

Just before 3am this morning, a King County Metro operator was stabbed to death in the U-District. From the Seattle Police Department blog:

Just before 3:00 a.m., patrol officers were dispatched to reports of a stabbing near the 4100 block of University Way Northeast. 

They located an adult male suffering from stab wounds to the chest. Police provided medical aid until the Seattle Fire Department arrived. They pronounced the victim deceased at the scene. 

Officers determined that an adult male passenger got into a physical altercation with the driver at the intersection of 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 41st Street. 

The Seattle Times is reporting that the operator was 59 year-old Shawn Yim. The suspect is still at large.

This incident is another tragic example of ongoing public safety issues across the city. Although violence on transit continues to be exceedingly rare, ensuring safe and secure spaces for the riding public should remain a key objective for transit agencies.

36 Replies to “Metro operator killed in the U-District”

  1. Every metro coach has multiple cameras. If they’re serious about catching the killer they need to release the pictures.

    1. Safety would go down.

      The idea of having them mobile is that they can get to where the problem is quick enough to head it off. If you put them on the buses they can’t do that. It would fall to local jurisdictions to respond, and they aren’t always prepositioned near bus routes.

      And Metro can’t afford to put a security officer on every bus. There are way too many buses to do that, and Metro can barely afford to put an operator in every bus as it is.

      1. How about a security officer on some of the night owl routes that tend not to have destinational riders?

  3. Tragic. A witness said the suspect wanted some window or hatch closed, but the driver wanted it open to help with windshield fogging, then the suspect pepper sprayed the driver, then drug him to the alley.

    Can anyone think of what route would be southbound on 15th before 41st at around 3 am? There can’t be that many possibilities. And the bus sign said “To Terminal.” That usually means a route is very close to its terminal. I think it switches to that signage automatically. And if that’s true, that the bus was a couple of blocks away from its terminal, why would a passenger complain about an open window? They’re getting off the bus in a minute or two.

    There will probably be a bus procession and memorial in the next couple of weeks.

    1. It was most likely a route 70 judging by the coach number and location. The 7000 series typically comes out of central base, which operates the route 70.
      Rest in Peace to the operator.

    2. Vehicle 7011 based on news footage. Pantograph shows it was a route 70. Would have just departed, bound for Eastlake.

    3. why would a passenger complain about an open window?

      They were crazy.

      The whole situation is very sad.

  4. We need major sentence enhancements for serious crime committed on transit vehicles and property where drivers and riders are particularly vulnerable. Enough is enough with the increase in crime on transit and failed soft on crime policies. They better lock this POS away if not seek capital punishment.

  5. I often notice that so-called crazy people are not completely stupid. it appears that they know where and when they can be crazy pretty well.

  6. Wow, I literally passed by this intersection last night on a bus, just three hours before the shooting. Was a smooth, calm ride.

  7. It has been over 30 hours since the murder. No pictures to help track down the assailant have been made available to the public.

    I would be surprised if there were not a bunch of call-outs from the graveyard shift. But I was on four buses yesterday, and operators were just going about their business.

    Amalgamated Transit Union 587 put out a $10,000 reward for information leading to the assailant’s capture. The president of the union issued several demands, including protective barriers for all drivers. What they have right now is just a barrier to keep passengers from breathing on the operators, while many (not most) still wear masks as well. Until the public gets to see the camera footage (if that ever happens), we will not know whether the barrier was of any use in yesterday’s deadly assault, or if what the union is calling for would have prevented the confrontation in another part of the bus. Maybe operators need a remote control override on the windows.

    We never got to see the footage of the assailant on the train who attacked a random passenger and gave him a significant head wound. I did not hear of that assailant ever being caught.

    1. Komo news, at least, has a picture of the suspect on their website now. No mention as to whether he is a known offender, but they do say do not approach, so I’d hazard the guess that the individual is well known to the police.

      1. I think it’s pretty standard to tell folks not to approach a presumed murderer regardless of whether they’re known to the police.

      2. They even gave the suspect’s name. Well, he is known to police now. But he got a 35-hour head start.

      3. There is a Reddit thread about the suspect being arrested for murder (possibly not the exact legal term) in 2023, in the U—District, not charged, and released after 72 hours.

        I would caution everyone here against giving the suspect’s name, to avoid any possibility of a defamation lawsuit.

    2. “Maybe operators need a remote control override on the windows.”

      The windows are manual. How much would it cost to make them all automatic, on all buses?

      1. I do hope the suspect’s pic is being shared with all transit agencies, rideshares, car rentals, hotels, businesses in the area, etc. It seems likely he does not own a car.

      2. I assume it would cost a lot for remote-controlled window latches.

        My point being, that operators have to leave their seat quite frequently, wake passengers up and tell them to get off the bus, help passengers with securements, and occasionally adjust the windows.

        When buses pull in at a transit center, it would be a simple matter to have security come over and assist with expelling passengers.

        Likewise, I’m guessing from now on, operators will be instructed not to confront passengers by themselves for any reason. Maybe occasionally play the turn-off-your-radio message once, and then alert the transit police to meet the bus if the rule-breaker persists.

    3. When I first heard the story, it sounded like the operator left the bus to call 911. If this is the standard procedure, it may not be the most secure for the operator. There really should be a “panic button” in easy reach of the operator that they can discretely hit to have law enforcement meet them at one of the next few bus stops. The Uber app has something like this for drivers. If a passenger is acting irate and is a potential threat, it makes sense to be able to call Security, for any business or organization–even if it turns out the security was not needed.

      1. Metro operators have a panic button. It is located above the turn signal controls and operated by their left foot.

        This feature has been on every bus since the early 1990s.

  8. My idea of having a focused, full time, and dedicated transit police force os sounding better.

      1. No. I mean a specific department of law enforcement for transit only. On transit only, all day and night.

      2. @Matthew

        That is literally what they are. “Metro Transit Police”

        > Our primary focus is responding to crimes occurring on Metro buses/ property, crimes against Metro employees and our customers. Our deputies proactively patrol the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel, Metro Transit Stations, Metro buses, bus shelters and all Metro related facilities.

  9. How did this person get past the plexiglass barrier in order to attack the driver? Every Metro bus I’ve been on since 2022 has one.

  10. CHS has photos of the assailant in their post from Wednesday. My condolences to Mr. Yim’s family, I hope they catch the guy. I ride the E line and there are near altercations on a regular basis. Route 70 is actually a generally safe route compared to that.

      1. It’s safe because there’s no one else around, so there’s not likely to be anybody to attack you. A few attackers can’t be everywhere all night every day. Things like this happen anytime, anywhere: it’s not more likely at 3am or on 15th Ave NE. At 4am the milkmen and early commuters start coming out, and that’s most of what you see.

  12. Per the Metro website, the suspect was taken into custody, without incident early this morning.

    Blessed Solstice, everyone!

    Condolences to the family of the victim. May he rest in power.

  13. There’s a vigil tonight for the driver. I don’t know when or where; Ross said it’s on the Transit Riders Union members wall but that’s behind a login wall.

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