Girl Killed When Gunman Opens Fire at MTA Bus

A gang member aiming at a rival brazenly opened fire at a crowded MTA bus Thursday in Watts, killing a 17-year-old high school student and wounding her 18-year-old classmate, police said.

“It was pandemonium in there,” said Los Angeles Police Sgt. Willie Guerrero. “There were about 50 people on that bus and the driver didn’t know who was hit until he made his next stop a long block away.”

Corrie Williams, 17, a senior at Centennial High School in Compton, was pronounced dead on arrival at Martin Luther King/Drew Medical Center. Her 18-year-old classmate and friend, whose name was not released, was shot in the shoulder and was in stable condition at the hospital.

In Williams’ back pocket, detectives found the form to order her graduation gown, said Det. Rudy Lemos.

“She was really looking forward to graduating from high school,” Lemos said. “She had the form for the graduation gown in her pocket because she was preparing to get fitted pretty soon.”

The gunman fled and was still at large late Thursday.

Williams was taking the bus home from school when the gunman, standing in the street, sprayed the windows with bullets, shattering the glass. The bus was jammed with high school students who began screaming and fell to the floor, authorities said.

William’s mother, Loretta Thomas Davis, said she had told Corrie to always take the bus home and never walk the streets because Davis was fearful of crime in their South Los Angeles neighborhood.

“I never worried about her taking the bus,” said a distraught Davis. “I thought the bus was safe.”

She described her daughter as an upbeat person, a fan of oldies music and horror movies. Davis said she had worked after school at a fast-food restaurant near their home.

But Corrie left the job about four months ago because her mother had insisted on picking her up after work but could no longer do it.

“I was afraid for her riding the bus at night, and I got tired of picking her up,” Davis said. There is “a lot of craziness out there today. You can’t even cross the street.”

City crisis intervention counselors spent the evening at the hospital talking with the family of the slain girl. Police Chief Willie L. Williams also stopped by the hospital to extend his sympathies to the family.

“Everyone spoke very highly of the girl,” Lemos said. “The school officials we talked to were all very impressed with her. She was very popular among the students.”

Corrie Williams and her friend were sitting in the back of the bus, which was northbound on Avalon Boulevard, when the driver stopped at Imperial Highway about 3:30 p.m.

The suspect, who was standing at the corner with a group of five friends, spotted a gang rival on the bus, detectives said. The suspect walked onto the bus and yelled some gang slogans at the rival. The rival shouted back and the suspect climbed off the bus.

“When the bus began to pull away, the suspect fired several rounds into the bus,” Lemos said. “That’s when the girls got hit. As so often happens, it was just the innocent victims who got hit. These were just two girls on their way home from school.”

Detectives were following a number of leads, Lemos said.

“This is still very early in the investigation,” he said. “With some cases you’ve got no potential witnesses. But with this case there were about 50 people on that bus. So we do have some advantages.”

Centennial High Principal Carrie Allen said: “Right now I’m a basket case. It’s unfortunate these kinds of things can happen to very innocent people. I knew Corrie, and she was a very vibrant, talkative and energetic person. She just had an outgoing personality.”

“[Corrie] was an outstanding, bright student, one of our brightest stars,” said Compton school board member Basil Kimbrew. “I’m asking whoever did this to come forward and do the right thing.”