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Thursday, July 25, 2013

New park in Shoreline to honor murdered transit driver; public invited to party celebrating dedication

Park will be named for slain bus driver
Public invited to the celebration

Dedication and party Saturday, July 27, 11am-3pm at N 163rd and Corliss Ave N

In December 1998, Mark McLaughlin, a Metro transit driver, was driving bus route 359 southbound on Aurora when, without warning, a passenger stood up and fatally shot him, then killed himself.

After McLaughlin lost control of the bus, it careened off the Aurora Bridge, falling some 50 feet to a Fremont neighborhood, injuring 34 passengers. One passenger, 69-year-old Herman Liebelt, died in a hospital the next day.


HistoryLink has an article on the event, which electrified the entire city with stories of trapped passengers, and heroic bystanders.

Bus drivers from around the state attended the memorial service for McLaughlin, as reported in The Seattle Times.

This Saturday, July 27, 2013, a park in Shoreline will be named for Mark McLaughlin and the dedication will be celebrated with a party to which the public is invited.

The dedication of the Mark F. MacLaughlin Memorial Park is this Saturday, July 27, from 11am – 3pm. There will be burgers, hot dogs, hot links, chips, dessert, games, a bouncy house and other events, all sponsored by MERAA and ATU 587. All you need to bring is a blanket or chairs.

The Park is located at N 163rd and Corliss Ave N, next to the King County Department of Transportation (Metro Transit) Base, Operation Building.


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5 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 25, 2013 at 4:17 PM

    KC Metro has been the taxpayer on this property. Has the City of Shoreline acquired this property? If so, how and when?

    ReplyDelete
  2. DKHJuly 25, 2013 at 11:54 PM

    It's a Metro Park on Metro property honoring a Metro driver. It is located in the City of Shoreline.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 26, 2013 at 11:33 AM

    Thank you for the clarification.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJuly 26, 2013 at 11:59 AM

    For those curious about Route #359, the route was retired following the tragedy:

    "In McLaughlin's memory nearly all in-service Metro buses stopped and observed a moment of silence at 7 p.m. on Thursday, December 3rd. At that hour King County Executive Sims announced that Metro would be retiring the number of Route 359, McLaughlin's route, 'so that years from now, people will ask why? And we can remember a person . . . we never want to forget.'"
    Source: http://your.kingcounty.gov/exec/news/1998/112798nr1.htm

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousJuly 27, 2013 at 9:57 AM

    Mark McLaughlin was raised in the City of Seattle and a graduate of Ingraham High School - go Rams. He lived here all of his life.

    ReplyDelete

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