Timmothy Nelson had been carrying it with him for days: the photo of Richard Sitzlack that Seattle police had given to Metro bus drivers so they could be on the lookout. It had been three days and a few hours since a tragedy turned their collective world upside down. One of them, operator Shawn Yim, was stabbed to death early in the morning near the University of Washington.
“Whether they knew him personally or not, it was felt by everyone and it doesn’t compare to his family, but among our colleagues it was very difficult,” Nelson said.
Nelson knew Shawn. For several months, when he didn’t have a car, he rode Shawn’s bus to work at the base where they were centered.
“He was always very nice, he was always good with a joke or a joke or something like that and was just very caring,” Nelson said.
He remembers Shawn giving him grief because he was working the night shift on the E-line, the bus line that goes north and south on Aurora Avenue, the same bus line where Sitzlack boarded Nelson’s bus early Saturday morning before he was arrested by Seattle police.
“I saw his face and thought that was him. I was glad we got him. I was also angry about everything that happened and everything he did, but then I was relieved that it felt like it was over, at least this part. It was over,” Nelson said.
An updated description of the clothing Sitzlack may have been wearing was shared with Nelson as he completed the final lap south on Aurora. One of the sleeping passengers on his bus was wearing matching clothes. He notified his supervisors and waived police as he approached the stop at Third Avenue South and South Main Street in downtown Seattle.
“It was really a big team effort between me, whoever called in the tip, the supervisors who told me about it, the police officers who were there, all the support from everyone,” Nelson reflected.
Sitzlack was processed and taken to the Seattle headquarters for an interview. Court documents revealed more details from police about what happened early Wednesday morning when Yim was killed. Documents say Sitzlack pepper-sprayed and beat Yim. Yim then called 911 and shouted for help as he tried to chase Sitzlack.
“Hurry, please, he’s leaving,” the documents say Yim said during the 911 call.
Then the documents record the sound of a struggle with the sound of two voices.
“I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed, please hurry,” Yim says in the documents. “I’m dying now, please hurry, please hurry.”
Officers found Yim dead when they arrived on the scene. A passenger on the bus who worked at a tent site that Sitzlack was trying to check into identified Sitzlack, allowing police to track down their suspect.
According to the documents, police briefly interviewed Sitzlack after his arrest Saturday morning. After reading him his Miranda rights, the documents said Sitzlack apologized. They saw the scabs on his knuckles.
“Sitzlack stated that he suffered the injury during the fight with the bus driver. Sitzlack requested an attorney and no further questions were asked regarding this incident,” read the documents.
Nelson says he is still coming to terms with Sitzlack’s arrest, while still grieving for his fallen colleague.
“I know he cared about people, about his family, about his co-workers, and he was always kind. Whatever happened, there’s no point in it happening to him,” Nelson said.
