Seattle police are actively searching for Richard Sitzlack, a 53-year-old suspect accused of fatally stabbing King County Metro bus driver Shawn Yim, 59, in a tragic incident early Wednesday morning.
The attack occurred around 3 a.m. near the University of Washington campus after a physical altercation between the suspect and the driver.
Authorities report that Yim was stabbed multiple times in the chest. He managed to walk a short distance from the bus before collapsing. Tragically, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect fled the area immediately after the attack, prompting a K9 search that was ultimately unsuccessful.
Sitzlack has been described as 6-foot-5, weighing 195 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. He is known to frequent the University of Washington district and downtown Seattle.
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The police urge anyone with information on Sitzlack’s whereabouts to come forward to assist in the investigation.
“We are not going to sit idly by while our members are murdered,” Greg Woodfill, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said in a press conference Wednesday. “I don’t have all the answers, but I do know we need a more secure area for the transit operator, and we need more dedicated Metro transit police officers.”
“We need to take action now,” Woodfill added. “We are all in shock.”
This was the first deadly attack on a King County bus driver in 26 years, according to the union.
“What happened today is an outrageous act of violence against a frontline public servant,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said at the press conference. “There can be no excuse for it and we will not accept it.”
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