Victim of fatal Culver CityBus shooting was longtime bus driver, loving family man
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- Attorney Denisse Gastélum confirmed that Bruce Rodriguez, a father of two young boys and a longtime bus driver, was killed in the shooting.
- A memorial celebrating his life will take place Saturday evening at Wildwood Elementary School.
- Police announced the arrest of the suspected gunman on Friday.
Dozens of friends, family members, co-workers and civic leaders gathered outside Wildwood Elementary School in Culver City on an unusually warm Saturday night to say goodbye to Bruce Rodriguez, a beloved father of two who was shot and killed while driving his bus.
Rodriguez’s wife, Sandy Sanchez, was among the attendees who released green and white balloons to honor her husband. Sanchez said she hopes her husband’s death would spark a fresh examination of bus driver safety in the hopes that the tragedy won’t be repeated.
“No wife should lose her husband this way, and no child should lose a father because he went to work,” she said.
Additional details in the fatal Culver CityBus shooting have emerged, including the identity of the man accused of killing Rodriguez, who is now in custody.
The shooting occurred Thursday evening in Mar Vista and claimed the life of Rodriguez, a 42-year-old man whose family remembered his dedication to his loved ones, including his parents and his two sons, a 3-year-old and a 6-month-old.
“Bruce served his community from behind the wheel. The role he loved most was at home, where he got to be a husband and a dad,” Kathy Sanchez, Rodriguez’s sister-in-law, said in the description of a GoFundMe campaign seeking aid for his survivors.
“Bruce was his family’s primary provider. He took great pride in caring for the people he loved,” added Sanchez, the organizer of the fundraiser.
After the shooting, which occurred near the intersection of South Centinela and Mitchell avenues, a man with a head wound was taken off the Culver CityBus, according to a witness.
Police said responding officers found the bus driver unresponsive in his seat. Officials determined that Rodriguez had suffered a gunshot wound, and paramedics transported him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The shooting took place Thursday evening in Mar Vista, near the intersection of South Centinela and Mitchell avenues, police said. The victim was a man in his 40s.
Attorney Denisse Gastélum confirmed Saturday to The Times that Rodriguez was killed in the shooting.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that it arrested 55-year-old Jose Zayas on Friday, according to a media release. The LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division, with the assistance of the Gang and Narcotics Division, arrested Zayas on Friday afternoon. He was booked on a charge of murder. He is currently jailed in Van Nuys and his bail is set at $3 million.
In a statement to The Times, Gastélum said news of Zayas’ arrest is “an important step toward answers and accountability for Bruce’s family” but does not minimize the loss of Rodriguez.
“Bruce spent 12 years serving this community, and he should have come home to his family,” she said. “As we honor him tonight, we also call on public employers to listen to their employees’ safety concerns and take meaningful action to protect the public servants who keep our communities moving.”
Culver City Mayor Freddy Puza said in a statement Friday, “We have lost a deeply valued member of our City Family to a senseless act of violence.” Puza announced that the city would suspend Culver CityBus service throughout the weekend and provide staff with crisis support as they grieve Rodriguez’s death.
Multiple bullets were fired in the incident and a man in his 40s was killed, according to police, who said the suspected gunman was at large.
“When services do resume, please be kind to our operators and transit team as they navigate this unimaginable tragedy,” Puza’s announcement ended.
The GoFundMe campaign for Rodriguez’s family has raised more than $78,600 of its $150,000 goal. The description for the fundraiser remembered Rodriguez for his “easygoing warmth,” along with his affinity for race cars, baking and “a good cup of coffee.”
“These are the everyday pieces of Bruce that his family and friends will carry with them,” the GoFundMe account said.
Rodriguez is survived by his parents, his wife, Sandy, their two sons and his sister-in-law.
Jennifer Vance, a fellow Culver CityBus driver who has worked at the agency for 11 years, helped organize Saturday’s memorial. In the moments before the attendees released their balloons, she encouraged everyone to say something aloud about her missing friend and colleague.
“You can say, ‘I love you Bruce,’ or ‘I miss you Bruce,’ but please, say something,” she said.
And on the count of three, the people in the assembled crowd released the balloons, which carried into the warm night sky along with the sound of dozens of voices shouting, in the hope that their messages somehow reach their lost friend and father.
Times staff writer Iris Kwok contributed to this report.
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