Authorities have apprehended the suspect in the murder of a King County Metro bus driver, following an early morning arrest on Saturday. The Seattle Police Department (SPD) had been seeking public assistance in locating 53-year-old Richard Sitzlack, who is accused of fatally stabbing the driver early Wednesday morning.
At approximately 3 a.m. on Saturday, SPD received a tip indicating that Sitzlack might be on the E line bus. A Metro coach driver alerted patrol officers, informing them that the suspect was reportedly asleep in the back of the bus. SPD quickly dispatched a tactical arrest team to the area of 3 Avenue South and South Main Street, where they took Sitzlack into custody without incident. He has since been booked into King County Jail on murder charges.
Court records reveal that Sitzlack had previously been arrested in November 2023 for the murder of his roommate. According to these documents, the altercation occurred when his roommate attempted to eject him from their shared living space. During the confrontation, the roommate allegedly attacked Sitzlack with a machete, prompting Sitzlack to retaliate with a knife. Despite some inconsistencies in Sitzlack’s account, prosecutors determined there was insufficient evidence to rule out his claims of self-defense at that time.
The victim in the recent murder, 59-year-old Shawn Yim, was attacked while performing his duties as a King County Metro bus driver around 3 a.m. on Wednesday. Reports indicate that Yim was maced, dragged from the bus, and subsequently stabbed to death in an alley near University Way Northeast and Northeast 41st Street. The violent incident was recorded by the bus’s surveillance cameras.
In light of rising safety concerns for both riders and operators, Metro has announced the closure of bus stops at 12th Avenue South and South Jackson Street due to nearby criminal activity. Yim’s tragic death marks the first time in 26 years that a Metro bus driver has been killed while on duty, a somber reminder of the dangers faced by public transit workers. The last fatal incident occurred in November 1998 when a passenger shot a driver, causing the bus to plunge off the Aurora Avenue bridge in Seattle.