A timeline of violence on Metro buses and trains since the beginning of 2024

From attacks on drivers to killings of passengers, more than a dozen violent crimes have occurred at LA Metro stations or aboard the transit system's buses and trains since the start of this year.

LA Mayor Karen Bass announced an "immediate surge" in the number of security and law enforcement officers patrolling buses and trains on Thursday. Just a few hours later, a man was shot dead on a Metro bus in the city of Commerce. It marked the third homicide aboard a Metro bus or train since January.

Bass, Metro's board chair, and other officials with the transit agency had promised a series of changes including plans to deploy 20% more security personnel including uniformed officers riding buses and trains, installation of plexiglass barriers protecting drivers on every bus and enabling cell phone service in all underground stations and aboard all moving buses and trains, among other changes. It's a response to public outcry over seemingly senseless violent crimes, which several local politicians have blamed on root causes of struggles with mental health, substance use and homelessness.

Interestingly, Metro actually reported a decline over the past year in the overall number of crimes against people — a figure that includes everything from aggravated assault and battery to rape and homicide. Such crimes have gone down 41% from March of last year to this year.

But it seems like the level of violence is what has changed. For instance, there was a single homicide reported each year for 2021, 2022 and 2023. But it's not even halfway through 2024 and there's been three killings — two on buses and one aboard a train.

There's a consensus among local public officials, Metro board members, many riders and even drivers who recently protested their working conditions that the stabbings, assaults and even homicides in recent months are in desperate need of addressing.

"We cannot and do not accept this violence as normal, and we are taking swift action to end it," said Katy Yaroslavsky, LA city councilwoman and LA Metro board member.

Here is a timeline of violent incidents since the start of 2024 up until May 21.

• May 21: Deputies responded to a stabbing reported on a Metro bus in Lynwood. The victim was taken to a hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening and another person was detained.
• May 16: A rider on a Metro bus was shot dead by a man with a handgun when the bus came to a stop in the city Commerce. After getting on the bus, the suspect sat behind Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez, who was riding the bus home from work, and later followed him to the exit before shooting him in the head, authorities said. He was charged with murder four days later.
• May 14: A man who police described as homeless attacked another rider with a wrench aboard a Metro bus in Encino. The suspect slammed the wrench into the victim's chest after stealing their cell phone, authorities said. He was later arrested on suspicion of assault and battery and the victim was injured but did not require hospitalization.
• May 13: A woman was stabbed inside an elevator at the Green Line Metro station near South Vermont Avenue in South LA. She was taken to a hospital and listed in stable condition while the suspect remained at large in the following days.
• May 13: An altercation on a Metro bus driving through Glendale spilled into the street and led to two people being stabbed after the driver ordered the group to get off the bus. Four males got off and continued fighting in the street, where two of them were stabbed, according to LA Metro. The other two were arrested. Police had initially described the incident as a robbery that left one person injured but Metro officials later gave the updated account of what happened.
• May 7: A security guard was stabbed in the leg at a Metro B Line Station in Hollywood while trying to pursue a man who pulled the emergency break on a train. He and other guards ran after the man when he got off the train. They pepper-sprayed him and that's when the man pulled out a knife and stabbed the guard. At the the time, LAPD said it was unclear if one of both guards shot at the man. After being shot, he was able to walk away. But he was found unconscious a block away and pronounced dead.
• April 26: An argument broke out on a Metro bus in South LA and the driver ordered the passengers to get off. Once off, one person stabbed the other person several times with a knife. The suspect tried to run from the scene but was later arrested. The victim was taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition. 
• April 22: Mirna Arauz, 67, was stabbed in the throat and killed in a sudden, unprovoked attack by a man who prosecutors say tried to take her bag moments earlier as they rode a Metro train in the Studio City area. She was going home from work. The suspect has since been charged with murder.
• April 17: As a Metro bus traveled through Santa Monica, a man kicked in the door of the bus and attacked the driver. 
• April 13: In South LA's Willowbrook neighborhood, a man began yelling at a Metro driver on a bus. When the driver stopped the bus, police said, the man then punched him in the face and stabbed him in the chest. The driver jumped off the bus and was able to get away as the suspect eventually left in another direction. He was arrested a little over two weeks later.
• April 13: An elderly man riding a bus in Silver Lake was stabbed by another passenger after they got into an argument, according to police. The suspect was arrested and the victim was treated at a local hospital and listed in stable condition.
• April 2: Metro closed down an A Line station in Huntington Park so law enforcement could investigate the assault of a man as he was leaving the station. He suffered serious injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital. Authorities did not release information about a suspect at the time.
• March 20: A man hijacked a Metro bus, threatening the driver with a gun that turned out to be fake and causing the bus to crash into several parked cars and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in downtown LA. The suspect ran off but officers later found and arrested him. The driver and a woman inside one of the vehicles both suffered moderate injuries and were treated at a hospital.
• Feb. 22: Darryl Winborn, 62, died after he was pepper-sprayed by another man aboard a Metro bus in Koreatown. A few days later, police arrested the suspect and booked him on suspicion of murder. 
• Jan. 4: An LAPD officer was treated for a leg injury after being attacked at a Metro station in North Hollywood. A suspect was later arrested. Authorities did not release other details about the circumstances surrounding the assault.