SAPD: Man who fatally shot passenger on VIA bus looking for fight

San Antonio police investigate Tuesday November 11, 2014 at the scene of a fatal shooting that took place on a VIA bus at about 2:20 p.m. at Main and Cypress. Sergeant Javier Salazar said a Hispanic male shot another man in his 20s and fled from the bus with a female wearing a pink hoodie. less San Antonio police investigate Tuesday November 11, 2014 at the scene of a fatal shooting that took place on a VIA bus at about 2:20 p.m. at Main and Cypress. Sergeant Javier Salazar said a Hispanic male shot ... more Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, San Antonio Express-News Photo: JOHN DAVENPORT, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 36 Caption Close SAPD: Man who fatally shot passenger on VIA bus looking for fight 1 / 36 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — A suspect and his companion were at large Tuesday night after a man who police said seemed determined to start a fight boarded a VIA bus near downtown in the afternoon and shot and killed a passenger.

Sgt. Javier Salazar, a police spokesman, said the victim was riding the 90 bus in the 1200 block of North Main Street between Cypress and Poplar streets a little before 2:30 p.m. when an unidentified man boarded the bus. The suspect was attempting to start confrontations with other passengers and began making eye contact with people, Salazar said.

Police said none of the 10 passengers on board at the time engaged the man, but at some point,the suspect approached a man and asked, "What are you looking at," Salazar said.

The man responded he wasn't looking at anything, and the suspect opened fire with a handgun, hitting the victim several times, Salazar said.

The victim, who has not been identified, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. He was thought to be in his 20s.

After the shooting, the suspect turned to the bus driver and demanded that she stop. The driver complied and the suspect got off the bus with a woman with whom he was traveling, Salazar said.

Police searched around The Pearl and at points on the River Walk for the couple, a man about 5-feet-5-inches tall, wearing a gray Dallas Cowboys hoodie or sweatshirt with blue lettering, and a woman said to be heavy-set and wearing a pink hoodie, Salazar said.

VIA Metropolitan Transit officials said they did not immediately alert other drivers because they did not have a clear description of the suspect, nor did they stop other buses on the affected route. An alert, however, was sent to drivers to be on the lookout for the suspect around 5 p.m.

Charlie Gonzalez, VIA's senior vice president of public engagement, extended the agency's condolences to the victim and his family. He said VIA had at least four cameras on the bus and was cooperating with SAPD. He also said that VIA will review the incident to see if "there are lessons to be learned from this."

Gonzalez emphasized that VIA prioritizes passenger safety and the shooting seemed to be a freak incident.

"We have 44 million boardings a year, we cover 1,200 miles of roadway," Gonzalez said. "As tragic as this is, as terrible, as horrific as it is, you have to have a frame of reference," he added.

In the aftermath of the shooting, neither San Antonio College nor Austin Academy, an elementary school, were placed on lockdown, officials said, though both are located a few blocks from the shooting site.

SAC spokeswoman Vanessa C. Torres said the college's chief of police spoke with SAPD about any precautions SAC should take. Leslie Price, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio Independent School District, said district police didn't learn of the shooting until 3 p.m. and sent two officers to Austin Academy, who arrived around 3:15 p.m..

"School let out at 3:20 on schedule," Price said via email. "SAPD did not contact the school, either - sometimes they will do that to recommend a lockdown."

News of Tuesday's shooting came as a shock to Rachel Perez, who was on a bus headed from her home on the Northeast Side to Camaron Street just west of downtown -- at the same time the shooting occurred.

"It's hard to grasp," she said. "Usually, you think this happens at night, not during the day," she said Tuesday evening as she waited on a bus at the corner of McCullough and Broadway.

Perez grew up riding the bus, but now at times alternates from driving to taking public transportation.

"Hearing this makes it a little more scary," she said. "And being a female by myself at night, it makes me feel like I have to be more on guard."

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, Mark D. Wilson, Maria Luisa Cesar and Francisco Vara-Orta contributed to this report.

ezavala@express-news.net

Twitter: @elizabeth2863