Metro Route 120 driver tells his story of last week’s shooting

(8/12/13 photo from WSB reader KD: Route 120 bus with bullet holes in windshield)
We’re hearing for the first time from the Metro bus driver who was at the wheel of the Route 120 bus that an armed man boarded while on the run from shooting another driver downtown last Monday. WSB commenters that day had praise for the driver:

*Jay wrote: “…Our bus driver did a fabulous job.”
*Laura wrote: “… The driver of the 120 was great and is uninjured – as is everyone else on our bus.”

The 33-year-old driver, Justin Onedera, talked with Seattle Times (WSB partner) reporter Mike Lindblom, who tells his story here. Lindblom reports that Onedera says it all happened in a matter of seconds.

Genesee Hill August 17, 2013 (7:33 pm)

Most of us appreciate professional drivers, Mr. Onedera. Thank you. I hope you feel better very soon.

miws August 17, 2013 (10:35 pm)

Great job, Justin!

Mike

dsa August 18, 2013 (1:17 am)

You are a treasure to Metro and riders, speedy recovery sir!

Maggie August 18, 2013 (6:12 am)

Justin, you are one fantastic driver! Thanks for sharing your story with us, I hope you are able to recover soon and drive for Metro again. As a regular Metro passenger I appreciate your dedication to the job!

Wes Cider August 18, 2013 (6:52 am)

The Seattle Times link does not work. It says I used up the number of free visits to the website. It there a way to see the article without paying for a digital subscription?

WSB August 18, 2013 (10:10 am)

Wes – sorry, we are no fans of paywalls ourselves and have been linking to the Times less, despite our longtime partnership (which is not a financial one FWIW in any way), since it was implemented, for just this reason, but this story was too compelling for us not to showcase. Some paywalled publications code certain links for social-media sharing in a way that bypasses the paywall, but the Times told us when we asked about that, that they weren’t planning to do it. – TR

Grayson Girl August 18, 2013 (10:06 am)

Believe it or not, the police officer in that picture was the flower girl at my wedding in 1988. Go Ms. K!!!!

Wes Cider August 18, 2013 (10:59 am)

^^ No need to apologize to me TR. I did not write the above post regarding the Times. Someone apparently has decided it would be funny to use my WSB handle.

g August 18, 2013 (2:59 pm)

Wes, just use a different browser or clear your cookies. If you use google chrome, use the the incognito mode.

themightyrabbit August 18, 2013 (7:38 pm)

thx g. no way is it worth paying dollars for a local paper. seattletimes will end up losing even more money with their desperate attempt to add this paywall. if they improved their stories they wouldn’t have to go to these drastic measures.

Sorry, comment time is over.