Dozens of friends, family members, colleagues, and community leaders gathered in Culver City on Saturday evening to honor Bruce Rodriguez, a 42-year-old bus driver who was fatally shot while on duty earlier this week. The memorial took place outside Wildwood Elementary School, where attendees released green and white balloons in his memory.

Rodriguez was shot Thursday evening near the intersection of South Centinela and Mitchell avenues in the Mar Vista neighborhood. Emergency responders found him unresponsive in the driver’s seat of his Culver CityBus vehicle. Despite efforts to save him, he was pronounced dead at a hospital. Authorities also reported that a man with a head wound was removed from the bus following the incident.

The Los Angeles Police Department announced Friday that 55-year-old Jose Zayas had been arrested in connection with the shooting. Zayas was taken into custody by the LAPD’s Robbery Homicide Division, with assistance from the Gang and Narcotics Division, and booked on a murder charge. He is currently held at the Van Nuys jail with bail set at $3 million.

Rodriguez’s family and colleagues remember him as a devoted husband and father of two young sons, aged three years and six months, who deeply cared for his loved ones. “Bruce served his community from behind the wheel,” said Kathy Sanchez, his sister-in-law and organizer of a GoFundMe campaign established to support the family. “The role he loved most was at home, where he got to be a husband and a dad.”

His wife, Sandy Sanchez, who attended the memorial, expressed hope that the tragedy would prompt a renewed focus on bus driver safety. “No wife should lose her husband this way, and no child should lose a father because he went to work,” she said.

Culver City Mayor Freddy Puza described Rodriguez as a valued member of the community and announced that city bus services would be suspended over the weekend to allow staff to grieve. He also urged the public to support transit workers once services resume, acknowledging the emotional toll of the incident.

Rodriguez had worked as a bus driver for 12 years and was known for his warmth and dedication. The GoFundMe campaign created on his behalf has raised over $78,600 toward a $150,000 goal to aid his survivors.

Fellow bus driver Jennifer Vance, who helped organize the memorial, encouraged attendees to voice their farewell messages before releasing balloons into the sky. “You can say, ‘I love you Bruce,’ or ‘I miss you Bruce,’ but please, say something,” she said.

Rodriguez is survived by his wife, two sons, his parents, and his sister-in-law. Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the shooting.