A woman’s tragic shooting on a Houston METRO bus, amid a backdrop of declining crime rates, highlights ongoing safety concerns.
HOUSTON — Last fall, METRO’s police chief announced beefed-up patrols after a series of violent incidents on buses and trains.
Over the past three years, the agency has shown on its website that major crimes have steadily gone down.
- 2022: 607 major crimes
- 2023: 460 major crimes
- 2024: 278 major crimes
The website didn’t provide numbers for 2025.
METRO said the “major crime” designation doesn’t always mean someone was physically injured. For instance, it considers robbery or stealing someone’s phone as a major crime.
For perspective, the latest available data shows the crime rate was one major crime for every 193,000 rides.
Latest incident
On Wednesday, a woman was shot and killed on a METRO bus in west Houston. Police said she was an innocent bystander.
Around 2:30 p.m., a man got on the bus and opened fire. Police said he was shooting at another person and instead hit the victim.
The gunman ran from the scene, and as of 8 p.m., still hadn’t been caught.
Investigators were pleading with the public to come forward with information. They said since it happened in the middle of the afternoon, someone must have some information about where the suspect went after the shooting. The only description we have is that he is between 17 and 20 years old and about 6 feet tall. He was last seen wearing a black hoodie and light gray shorts.
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