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This archival content was originally written for and published on KPCC.org. Keep in mind that links and images may no longer work — and references may be outdated.

KPCC Archive

Police seek man who told LA Metro bus driver he has Ebola

Mayor Eric Garcetti named Jackie Dupont-Walker and L.A. City Councilmen Paul Krekorian and Mike Bonin to the Metro Board of Directors.
File: Metro buses
(
MTA Library/Flickr Creative Commons
)

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Police are looking for a man they say got on a Metro bus in Los Angeles, told the driver he had Ebola and then walked away. This happened Monday on the 33 Line along Venice Boulevard.

Metro spokesman Paul Gonzales told NBC4 the man wore a surgical mask and left it in the bus.

"The man said to the driver, 'Don't mess with me, because I have Ebola.'"

The bus was quarantined and the driver was taken to the hospital for observation, but is said to be doing fine.

A Department of Public Health spokeswoman says there's likely no need for concern, but Gonzales says Metro still takes the event seriously.

"When somebody comes on to a bus and makes a threat like that, the idea is to sow fear in people, and that's terrorism," Gonzales said.

The L.A. County Sheriff's Department is reviewing video from the bus — they hope to identify the man and his female companion.

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