On November 27, 1998, in the worst bus accident of Metro's 25-year history, the driver of a southbound Route 359 express bus is shot twice as the bus begins crossing the Aurora Bridge, which crosses the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle. After shooting the driver, the shooter, Silas Garfield Cool, 43, originally of New Jersey, turns his .380 automatic handgun on himself. The bus drops 50 feet into the Fremont neighborhood, killing one passenger and injuring 32 others. The driver, Mark McLauglin, 44, passenger, Herman Liebelt, 69, and the shooter die.
The bus, a southbound Route 359 express, crossed two lanes of oncoming traffic and plunged 50 feet, landing first on the roof of an apartment building before tumbling to the ground. Had the bus traveled a few hundred yards farther it would have dropped more than 160 feet into the ship canal.
In addition to Cool and the driver, Mark McLauglin, 44, another passenger, Herman Liebelt, 69, died as a result of the accident. Thirty two passengers were injured.
No clear motive for the shooting could be determined, although there were signs that Cool had been experiencing emotional problems and had become severely withdrawn.
