Passenger attacks bus driver with a board after he’s told to wear a mask, TX cops say

A bus driver in Lubbock, Texas, was left beaten and bloodied Thursday when a passenger attacked her with a 2x4 piece of wood after she asked him to wear a mask, according to police.

The Citibus driver told police that Shonn Glenn Shepard, 36, became angry after she asked him to wear a mask. He gathered his belongings, moved to the front of the bus and struck her right arm with the board, police said.

Shepard got off the bus and began smashing mirrors and windows, including the driver-side window, which sent glass shards flying into the driver’s head, causing injuries, according to the police report.

Shepard fled the scene and police chased him down, forcing him to surrender at gunpoint, the report said, as Shepard -- bloodstained 2x4 still in hand -- was acting aggressively toward the reporting officer.

“Due to [Shepard’s] current demeanor and the fact that he had just used the same 2x4 to physically assault [the bus driver] I decided to draw my department issued hand gun, point the handgun directly at [Shepard] and verbally demand to lay on the ground,” the report said. “[Shepard] hesitated before eventually dropping the 2x4 and sitting down on the ground.”

Following his arrest, Shepard “intentionally urinated on the back seat” of the patrol car, police said.

Despite cuts on his hands, he repeatedly refused any medical treatment, according to the report. He was later booked into the Lubbock County Detention Center on charges including aggravated assault, criminal mischief, and evading on foot.

The bus driver was treated by emergency medical services at the scene, the report said.

Shepard caused an estimated $2,500 in damage to the bus, police said.

In early July, the state of Texas passed a mandate requiring residents to wear masks in public spaces, in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.

As more states implement similar measures, businesses, public transit agencies and others are following suit, and frontline workers are finding themselves in the position of enforcing those policies -- sometimes at the cost of their lives.

Face mask disputes have led to violence outside the U.S. as well.

A bus driver in Bayonne, France was beaten to death by a group of four passengers whom he had asked to wear masks, the Associated Press reported.

“This bus driver was only doing his job,” said Gerald Darmanin, France’s interior minister. “He left his home in the morning and did not come back, leaving a widow and three orphan girls. It is an absolutely odious act.”

This story was originally published July 17, 2020 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Passenger attacks bus driver with a board after he’s told to wear a mask, TX cops say."