Suspect arrested and charged with shooting into a Charlotte bus, police say

Jonathan Limehouse
·2 min read
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect an arrest in the case.

Police on Wednesday night arrested a man suspected of firing several shots into a Charlotte Area Transit System bus earlier in the day.

Jason Wright, 37, is charged with carrying a concealed gun, possession of a firearm by a felon, discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling/moving vehicle, possession of marijuana up to one-half ounces and possession of marijuana paraphernalia.

Just after midnight on Wednesday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers responded to an assault with a deadly weapon call in the 8700 block of Nations Ford Road. A CATS driver told officers that an unknown man fired three to four shots into Bus No. 2150 while it was stopped at Nations Ford Road and Huntsmoor Drive, according to Charlotte Crime Stoppers.

Officers from CMPD’s Steele Creek division found Wright and took him into custody without incident, Crime Stoppers said in a news release Thursday. He is being held at Mecklenburg County Jail.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say Jason Wright is the man in this image. Wright is accused of firing a gun three to four times into a CATS bus on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police say Jason Wright is the man in this image. Wright is accused of firing a gun three to four times into a CATS bus on Wednesday, May 18, 2022.

No passengers were on the bus, and the driver wasn’t injured, Crime Stoppers said. The bus was damaged in the shooting.

Wright spent nearly 11 years incarcerated for being an habitual felon. His previous criminal charges include possession of a firearm by a felon, resisting arrest, drunk driving and conspiracy to sell a Schedule II drug, such as morphine, fentanyl, codeine and oxycodone, according to the N.C. Department Of Public Safety.

Ethan Rivera CATS shooting

The shooting comes about three months after CATS bus driver Ethan Rivera was fatally shot during a road rage incident on Feb. 11.

Darian Dru Thavychith, 21, was charged with Rivera’s murder after being arrested in Shawnee, Kansas, on Feb. 28.

After Rivera’s death, unions and other worker groups demanded that CATS provide more security for its drivers and employees — including bulletproof shields. When CATS released a video of the Rivera shooting in March, the agency detailed a number of ways it would improve its security. None included bulletproof shields.

CATS officials said they are open to “feasibility of the technology,” but it will not install the bulletproof barriers without further review, the Observer previously reported.

Anyone with information about Wednesday’s shooting can contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 704-334-1600 or at charlottecrimestoppers.com.