An off duty Capital Metro employee fatally shot himself on bus No. 302 Tuesday evening.

The incident occurred at 8:40 p.m. on the 3100 block of Red River Street in Austin, across the street from St. David’s Medical Center and a few blocks away from North Campus.

Engineering sophomore Kyle Ayotte said he drove by the scene and counted six or seven police cars.

“They had southbound traffic blocked on Red River detouring on Medical Arts,” he said. “I came up from Medical Arts and they had the right turn lane blocked with an officer directing me to the North onto Red River.”

According to a statement from Capital Metro, the man was identified as 47-year-old Jesus Rios. Rios, a bus operator with Star Tran, Inc. for 11 years, was suspended from his position for disciplinary reasons earlier in July.

“Following the incident, the bus operator acted swiftly to safely escort the six passengers off of the bus,” according to the statement. “There were no injuries to the bus operator or passengers.”

Capital Metro also said grief counseling is being provided to Capital Metro employees today at the agency’s headquarters.

Austin Police Department said it is investigating this as a suicide and had no further comments.
 

Correction: The original story incrrectly reported the incident occurred on bus route 302. The incident actually occurred on bus No. 302.