Baltimore police search for suspect in deadly shooting on MTA bus

BALTIMORE - A man died after a shooting on a city bus in downtown Baltimore on Saturday, Dec. 1, according to police. 

Officers responded to South Eutaw Street around 2 p.m. where they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds on an MTA bus.  

The man – later identified as 30-year-old William Womack – was taken to a hospital where he died, according to police.  

Officers are asking for the community's help to identify the person in the photo below: 

"This is a busy MTA bus stop and other people were possibly around, so this is a dangerous guy that we really need to get off the streets," Baltimore Police Det. Vernon Davis said.

Baltimore police said detectives are combing through all the video surveillance from the bus, CityWatch cameras, and nearby businesses to determine where the suspect got on the bus, and where he went after the shooting. 

MTA Administrator Holly Arnold shared the following statement: 

"We are saddened any time an act of violence occurs on our system. We express our condolences to the victim and their family.

Baltimore City police is leading the investigation effort. The Maryland Transit Police are fully cooperating with Baltimore City Police in investigating the incident. I do want to express my appreciation for the Maryland Transit Police and all the work they do to keep crime off the system. They do an excellent job of ensuring that our system is one of the safest in the nation. While this incident is tragic and a headline on the news, it does not depict the full picture of safety and security on our system."

Police: Bump, verbal dispute led to shooting 

Police said the suspect did not know Womack but they argued on the bus as Womack was leaving. Police said the argument may have stemmed from one of the men bumping into the other.

"Based on the video from the MTA bus, it was a slight bump and a verbal dispute that followed, which then followed the suspect pulling out the gun and shooting the victim, without cause, without warning," Davis said.

Bus passengers react

Darryl Hall, who gets off at that bus stop nearly every day, said the shooting is alarming.

"It hurts me," Hall said. "I said, 'Wow, I would usually be on that bus,' but it didn't happen to me, and I thank God for that."

Anyone with information on the person in the photo is asked to call police at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers of Maryland at 1-866-7Lockup.