Wife speaks out after man shot to death on Metro bus in Commerce; suspect charged

COMMERCE, Calif. (KABC) -- The family of a man who was shot and killed on a Metro bus in Commerce is speaking out as the suspect in the incident has been charged with murder.

The victim, Juan Luis Gomez-Ramirez, was riding on the bus last week and the suspect, Winston Apolinario Rivera, sat behind him. When the bus stopped, Rivera allegedly walked to the back exit and stopped behind Gomez-Ramirez before shooting him in the head.

The victim immediately died and Rivera ran off the bus. He was later found under a train in Commerce, where he was arrested. Rivera is facing 35 to years to life in prison if convicted as charged.

One person was killed Thursday in a shooting on a Metro bus in the City of Commerce.

"Why don't bus drivers have any authority whatsoever to deny a passenger entry? What is it about buses that make them so susceptible?," said the family's attorney, Mario Acosta.

The man's family spoke Monday, including his wife.

The couple and their 1-year-old baby were visiting from Puebla, Mexico to Montebello on tourist visas. They were visiting family.

"With every day that passes, I feel more and more confused - like I don't have any answers," the victim's wife, Sarahi Varela Lopez, said in Spanish translated by Acosta.

Both Gomez-Ramirez and his wife were teachers working with children with disabilities. The family now has a GoFundMe account to help his wife and son, Elliot.

The tragic incident follows a recent string of violent acts against Metro passengers and drivers.