Honoring Shawn Yim: King County Metro remembers driver killed one year ago

Remembering King County metro driver Shawn Yim 1 year later

Thursday marks the one year since King County Metro driver Shawn Yim was killed on the job.

SEATTLE - King County Metro employees are gathering this week to remember their colleague Shawn Yim, a bus driver who was killed on the job last year. 

Coworkers held a memorial ride on Wednesday from the Central Atlantic Base in Sodo to the University District. Drivers laid a wreath near 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 41st Street, the site where Yim was fatally stabbed by a passenger. The "honor ride" followed Yim’s former Route 70, where participants briefly lit candles to honor him. 

"It is a very tough week for our organization as we gather to honor his memory," said King County Metro Transit Deputy General Manager Ernest Kandilige. "We are showing up for Shawn just as he showed up over the years to serve his community."

The backstory:

Around 3 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2024, officers responded to a stabbing just a block west of Parrington Lawn at the University of Washington. They found 59-year-old Yim suffering from stab wounds to the chest. First responders provided medical aid, but he died at the scene.

Richard Sitzlack, the man accused in the deadly stabbing, remains in custody awaiting trial on a charge of first-degree murder.

On Thursday, all of King County Metro held a moment of silence at 2:54 a.m., marking the time the attack happened. The agency plans to hold a moment of silence again at 2:54 p.m., when hundreds of busses will pull over safely where possible. 

Thousands honor Seattle Metro bus driver Shawn Yim

Thousands of community members showed up to honor the life of a Seattle bus driver that was murdered while working last month.

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