Metro Bus Tragedy
On November 27, 1998, King County Metro driver Mark McLaughlin, the driver of a southbound route 359 Express articulated bus, was shot and killed by a passenger, Silas Cool, while driving across the bridge. Cool then shot himself as the bus veered across two lanes of traffic and plunged off the bridge's eastern side onto the roof of an apartment building below. Herman Liebelt, a passenger on the bus, later died of injuries he sustained in the accident.
A service for McLaughlin was held on December 8, 1998, at Key Arena in Seattle. Numerous state and county officials and over 100 transit drivers attended the service, which included a procession of over eighty Metro buses and vans. Metro announced their plans to retire the number 359 as a route designation and replace it with route 358.
According to estimates from the Washington State Department of Transportation, repairs to the bridge cost over $18,000. Medical claims from the victims against King County amounted to $2.3 million.
Read more about this topic: George Washington Memorial Bridge
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