Fresno Man Arrested After Shooting Injures Amtrak Bus Driver Downtown

An Amtrak bus driver was cleaning his vehicle at the downtown Fresno station after midnight Wednesday when a man walked up and fired several rounds into the bus, sending the driver scrambling through an emergency exit and landing him at Community Regional Medical Center before sunrise.

Fresno police arrested 33-year-old Deandre Dewayne McClain in connection with the shooting, which left the bus with at least three bullet holes piercing its windows. The driver sustained a graze wound to his cheek from broken glass and broke his ankle after jumping out the emergency window and hiding while the shooter fled on foot. He was treated at CRMC and released.

Fresno Police Lt. Larry Bowlan said the incident stood apart even after nearly three decades on the force. "For the Amtrak bus itself, I have never heard that in almost my 30 years I have been here, especially at that location," he said. Officers arrived to find the bus on Santa Fe with visible bullet damage and the driver already out of the vehicle.

Lt. Bowlan described how the driver's quick thinking likely kept the situation from turning fatal. "He was struck, he immediately made his way to the back of the bus, exited through an emergency exit and then hid," he said. "A very scary incident for this person, and something we would not want anyone to go through."

The driver had already dropped off his passengers before returning to the station, a detail Lt. Bowlan said mattered enormously. "We are very thankful there were no other people on the bus because even for the driver, this could have been much more tragic," he said.

Witnesses at the scene saw the shooter running from the area holding a gun and described him as a man in dark clothing. McClain was not located that night, but Fresno officers found him the following day at the intersection of Blackstone and Holland. He was in possession of the firearm, which was reported stolen. He was booked into the Fresno County Jail.

The incident occurred near Tulare Street in the downtown station area, where Amtrak buses regularly stage after completing runs. Lt. Bowlan offered direct guidance for anyone who might face a similar situation on public transit: "If someone were put in that situation, what we would ask them to do is get as low as they can on the bus because the windows are not going to be a protective shield."

Anyone with additional information about the shooting is asked to contact the Fresno Police Department.