Suspect identified, at large in fatal stabbing of Seattle bus driver

A passenger who attacked a public bus driver and stabbed him to death in Seattle remains on the loose, according to officials.

Richard Sitzlack, 53, was identified Thursday afternoon as a suspect in the killing of a King County Metro bus driver a day earlier. Sitzlack frequents the University of Washington district and downtown Seattle, according to police.

King County Metro Coach driver Shawn Yim, 59, was stabbed multiple times in the chest by the passenger after getting into a physical altercation on Wednesday at 3 a.m. The attack happened in the area of the campus of the University of Washington.

The driver walked a short distance from the the bus and collapsed from his injuries, police said. The suspect fled the area, according to police.

Yim was pronounced dead at the scene.

A K9 search for the suspect was unsuccessful, police said. 

Sitzlack was described as being 6-foot-5 and weighing 195 pounds with brown eyes and brown hair.

"We are not going to sit idly by while our members are murdered," Greg Woodfill, the president of the Amalgamated Transit Union, said in a press conference Wednesday. "I don't have all the answers, but I do know we need a more secure area for the transit operator, and we need more dedicated Metro transit police officers."

"We need to take action now," Woodfill added. "We are all in shock."

This was the first deadly attack on a King County bus driver in 26 years, according to the union.

"What happened today is an outrageous act of violence against a frontline public servant," King County Executive Dow Constantine said at the press conference. "There can be no excuse for it and we will not accept it."