Updated at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday with Long Beach Police Department contacts for witness reports.
Updated at 10:00 a.m.: John Edward Boulger, 56, was identified as the victim in this story, according to Lt. Joe Bale of the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
A man was struck and killed by a red Passport bus tonight on Second Street on the downward slope of the Davies Bridge as it enters Naples. Second Street was closed in both directions between Pacific Coast Highway and the base of the bridge, said Long Beach Police Department Sgt. Dave Marander.
Readers who were able to pass before the road closure did not see the crash but confirmed that there was only one victim, who was immediately covered with a white sheet.
According to Marander, the pedestrian, an older man, was on the south curb at 8:16 p.m. when he stepped into the roadway, and was struck by the right front of the Long Beach Transit District bus. The man died at the scene, and had not been identified as detectives awaited the L.A. County Coroner's arrival.
Witnesses on the street were being interviewed by Long Beach police but Marander said the bus passengers did not report seeing the impact. The crash scene was on the bridge right over East Appian Way, on the Mother's Beach side of Second Street.
Drivers were urged to drive up P.C.H. and take another street westbound to drop down and back into either Belmont Shore or Naples. Traffic was expected to be barred in the crash area to at least midnight.
Many Belmont Shore and Naples residents told Patch about their disturbing experience having to pass the heavily traveled crash site before authorities arrived. Wrote one:
"I passed the accident just after it happened before the police or fire department arrived. I was headed over the bridge just after 8:15pm with my baby when the traffic came to a sudden halt. Cars started to drive around an SUV that was stopped in the center lane with its hazards on, and then around the bus that was stopped in the far left lane. When I was getting into the far left lane to pass the stopped SUV I saw the bus driver walking towards me with road reflectors and he looked like nothing was wrong, so at this point I just assumed maybe it was just a fender-bender.
"Then to my horror I saw in the middle lane a man laying, body twisted, face down on the ground in a pool of blood .... I immediately burst into tears. My husband said that when he was headed to work at 8:40 a.m. this morning, driving at the end of 2nd Street as you are passed Naples (when it becomes Westminster). He had to swerve his car around a man (that appeared homeless and fitting the same description as the victim) that had randomly walked out onto the road in front of his car. I hope this information helps."
"As the passenger bus travelled westbound over the bridge in the number two lane, the pedestrian entered the roadway and was struck by the right front area of the passenger bus," a press release on the fatality read.
The police investigation is underway and the department asks that anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to contact Long Beach Police Accident Investigations Detectives David Lauro or Sirilo Garcia at (562) 570-7355.
Earlier Story:
An injury crash occurred Tuesday night about 8:30 p.m. involving a red Passport bus on East Second Street, which was closed to traffic from Naples Plaza Drive over the bridge to Marina Drive, police said.
The Long Beach Police Department said the investigation was still underway and details were limited, but drivers should avoid the area if at all possible.
It appeared to bystanders that a Passport bus was traveling westbound on the bridge right above East Appian Way, where it was stopped.
If you witnessed the crash or saw anything afterward, please post it here.
From a Patch reader at about 10:25 p.m.:
"Just as I drove onto the bridge, the police stopped all other traffic. As I drove by the scene, I saw a dead body covered with a white sheet on the ground surrounded by blood. Then as I drove by the city bus, I saw what looked like a gunshot to the door and policemen were on the bus, maybe investigating the crime? I hope this helps."
More as we get it.
