Victim in fatal VIA shooting identified as 23-year-old

Donovan Arzola was shot and killed Nov. 12, 2014 by a gunman on a VIA bus near downtown San Antonio. The suspect approached several passengers, attempting to start a confrontation, and then opened fire on Arzola. less Donovan Arzola was shot and killed Nov. 12, 2014 by a gunman on a VIA bus near downtown San Antonio. The suspect approached several passengers, attempting to start a confrontation, and then opened fire on ... more Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close Victim in fatal VIA shooting identified as 23-year-old 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — A gunman is still free after fatally shooting a VIA bus passenger near downtown San Antonio on Tuesday afternoon.

Donovon Rae Arzola, 23, was pronounced dead on the bus after it came to a stop at North Main Avenue and Cypress Street shortly after the gunman fired several shots around 2:30 p.m., according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner.

Arzola was hit by several bullets.

Though officers spent hours Tuesday scouring the area surrounding the shooting, they were unable to locate the shooter.

San Antonio Police Department Chief William McManus invited media to Public Safety Headquarters Wednesday where he met with District Attorney-elect Nico LaHood.

LaHood said that his prayers go out to the family of the victim and that he "looks forward to a thorough investigation and holding the person responsible accountable."

McManus left before answering any questions on the shooting. His spokesman, Sgt. Javier Salazar, said they had no new information in the case.

Initially, department officials said they would work with VIA to procure surveillance video of the incident, but VIA officials said Wednesday afternoon they were having issues downloading the footage from the bus' hard drive.

Officials said the hard drive was taken to Computer Doctor, a local computer repair business that has fixed damaged hard drives for VIA in the past.

At this point, VIA officials said they do not know if they will be able to retrieve the footage.

Charlie Gonzalez, senior vice president of public engagement, said that the bus had four internal cameras and four external cameras.

Gonzalez said VIA will review the shooting to see if it can learn anything to help prevent future incidents or to help police catch the suspect.

The agency will also examine if it should have sent out its alert to other drivers sooner.

"We will clearly look at every aspect of this to see if there's something that can be done," Gonzalez said.

The suspect boarded the bus Tuesday a short time before the shooting and attempted to start some sort of confrontation with various passengers, according to police.

Salazar said the man had been looking other passengers in the eye and asking what they were looking at.

While passengers initially tried to ignore the man, the suspect finally sat directly across from Arzola, authorities said.

The suspect asked him what he was looking at. When Arzola responded that he was not looking at anything, the suspect opened fire with a handgun, striking him several times, according to police.

The suspect, who was wearing a gray Dallas Cowboys sweatshirt with blue lettering, demanded the driver of the bus stop.

Once at a halt, the suspect and a woman he was travelling with got off and ran away, witnesses told police.

Salazar said the bus driver did a great job of remaining calm and bringing the bus to stop in the aftermath of the barrage of gunfire.

About 10 others were on the bus at the time of the shooting, he said. Neither the shooter nor the woman who fled with him have been identified.

Tuesday's shooting was the first on a VIA bus since Aug. 12, 2013, when a former San Antonio firefighter shot a passenger with whom he'd be arguing in the face.

The gunman, Charles Adamson Jr., then rode away on a bicycle but later surrendered after an hours-long standoff.

Staff Writers Drew Joseph and Elizabeth Zavala contributed to this report.

mdwilson@express-news.net

Twitter: @MDWilsonSA