Bait buses and undercover officers are part of a new effort to catch those responsible for shooting and shattering windows on tech industry shuttles along the Interstate 280 corridor in the South Bay.
The California Highway Patrol already increased the number of officers patrolling the freeway, hoping to spot the BB gun shooter that has fired at and hit seven different buses in the past several weeks. No injuries have been reported.
With the new operation, deploying decoy buses with CHP undercover officers aboard, the agency is hoping it finds itself in the cross hairs of the shooter.
"CHP investigators will be riding charter buses at random, some with passengers and some without, in an effort to bring the individual or individuals responsible for these attacks to justice," a CHP official said.
Only some of the tech buses will be decoys and some will be actual commute buses with passengers and undercover CHP officers along for the ride.
"It’s very similar to the air marshal program," the CHP said. "The passengers won’t even know, necessarily, that there’s an officer on the bus."
The operation comes a day after the CHP announced hat Storer Transportation, a charter bus company, has offered a $10,000 reward for information to help catch the BB gun vandals.
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Along with decoy buses, the CHP is using unmarked patrol cars along I-280. The agency is coordinating with local law enforcement agencies and has asked the FBI to help as well.
