Teenager wanted over murder of sleeping bus passenger turns himself in

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A teenager wanted in connection with the random fatal shooting of a passenger sleeping on a Seattle bus has turned himself in.

Miguel Rivera Dominguez, 17, is accused of killing 21-year-old Marcel Wagner as he rested on a King County Metro bus south of Seattle. Authorities have called it the “senseless execution of a total stranger”.

The suspect, who wore a ski mask at the time of the shooting, turned himself in on Monday and now faces charges of first-degree murder and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

Charging documents state that Mr Rivera Dominguez was aboard the bus on 3 October when he pulled a cord to request the driver stop and shot the victim five times with a handgun, reported Kiro 7 News.

Investigators say that a friend who was with him told detectives that there was no warning that the shooting was going to take place and that the suspect did not know the victim, whom he sat near for 12 minutes before the violence broke out.

“The steps the defendant took to conceal his identity and his calculated actions on the bus underscore the planned and deliberate nature of this crime,” Deputy Prosecutor Lauren Burke wrote in charging papers.

Prosecutors have asked that the suspect, who has no previous criminal convictions, be held on $3m bail.

The suspect was identified using video footage from the Burien neighbourhood where Mr Dominguez boarded the bus, say detectives.

King County Metro has said that in the wake of the shooting, it increased security on the H Line, which runs from downtown Seattle and the suburb of Burien.

Officials say that it was the fourth shooting since 2019 inside a Metro bus or at a transit station.

Under Washington state law, 16 and 17-year-olds charged with violent crimes can be automatically charged as adults, according to The Seattle Times.

However, if convicted, a judge has complete discretion in sentencing a juvenile and does not have to follow guidelines that would be used for an adult.