Manslaughter charge filed in Seattle bus crash that left 1 dead, 12 injured

The crash caused the bus to run over a pedestrian, police said.

November 9, 2023, 10:48 AM

The driver of a car involved in a collision with a Metro bus in downtown Seattle on Saturday that left a woman dead and 12 people injured has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, according to police.

The 31-year-old driver of the red sedan that crashed into the bus at an intersection and sent it hurtling onto a sidewalk and into a building was charged after Seattle police investigators alleged they found "possible drug usage in the vehicle" and obtained a warrant to draw the man's blood for testing as part of a DUI investigation in this case.

The sedan driver's name has not been released. He remains in critical condition in a hospital, according to police, who said he will be booked into the King County Jail once medically cleared from Harborview Medical Center.

PHOTO: Seattle Police Department released this photo of a fatal collision involving a Metro Bus at the intersection of 5 AV/Battery ST in Seattle, on Nov. 4, 2023.
Seattle Police Department released this photo of a fatal collision involving a Metro Bus at the intersection of 5 AV/Battery ST in Seattle, on Nov. 4, 2023.
Seattle Police Department/Twitter

A 28-year-old woman killed in the incident when she was struck by the bus while walking on a sidewalk was identified as Amanda Joelle Schneider, according to the King County Medical Examiner's Office.

Schneider, who lived near the scene of the crash, died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the medical examiner's office.

The crash unfolded near the Belltown section of Seattle around 3:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, according to the Seattle Police Department.

A King County Metro bus was traveling east when it collided with the red sedan headed south at the intersection of 5th Avenue and Battery Street, police said.

"The collision caused the Metro Bus to leave the roadway, crashing into a building near the intersection," police detective Judinna Gulpan said in a statement.

The bus struck and killed Schneider who was walking outside the building the bus crashed into. Schneider was pronounced dead at the scene, according to police.

The red sedan was also sent careening into the building, and firefighters had to extricate the driver from the vehicle.

The bus driver and 10 passengers all suffered minor non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.

No one was inside the portion of the building impacted by the crash and there was "no significant structural damage to the building," the fire department said on social media.