California cops are using a decoy bus to catch whoever keeps shooting at Apple and Google employee shuttles (APPL, GOOG, GOOGL)

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March 1, 2018 11:31 PM

The FBI is involved in investigating 20 pellet gun shootings at Silicon Valley charter buses.

Charter buses carrying Apple and Google employees during their commutes have come under fire — someone, or someones, keep shooting at them with pellet guns.
The California Highway Patrol is using decoy buses and undercover officers to catch the shooter.
The FBI has also been called in to help the investigation.

The California Highway Patrol has resorted to using decoy buses to catch the culprit behind a string of BB gun shootings at charter buses carrying Apple and Google employees.

The news was first reported by ABC7.

CHP officer John Fransen told Business Insider the department will be using decoy buses to draw fire from the shooter. Since January, there have at least been 20 shootings at charter buses in the Bay Area, including five used by Apple and Google employees who commute. The FBI is also helping with the case, Fransen said.

The shooter used a pellet gun, which fires metal balls, better known as "BBs."

"Anytime you shoot a projectile at a moving vehicle, it's a risk," Fransen said. "That does pose a risk to public safety and we are taking this very seriously."

In addition to the decoys, Fransen said some actual Apple and Google buses will have undercover CHP investigators posing as riders. The investigators will "take appropriate action" if a bus comes under fire, but Fransen declined to go into specifics about what that could mean.

The charter bus company that owns the buses, Storer, is offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the parties responsible for the shootings.

A spokesperson from Apple declined to comment. Storer directed all questions to CHP.

Google has not responded to a request for comment.

Now read Business Insider Prime's exclusive report on the turmoil at Magic Leap, the $6 billion startup creating the next big computing platform.

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