SAN JOSE — A man now charged with murder in the shooting death of his fellow bus driver reportedly owed the victim money over NFL and college football bets, and the pair were meeting to settle that debt when the gunfire erupted last week in a Valley Transportation Authority parking lot, authorities say.
Court documents filed Wednesday show that witness accounts and surveillance video helped Santa Clara County sheriff’s investigators connect Duc Minh Bui to the killing of 45-year-old Regulus “Regus” Teotico on Friday night at the VTA Chaboya Division Yard at on South Seventh Street near Tully Road.
A memorial for a slain bus driver in the parking lot of the VTA Chaboya Division Yard on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024, in San Jose, Calif. Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) employee Duc Minh Bui, 33, was arrested near his home in San Jose Sunday afternoon in the alleged killing of a VTA bus driver he knew. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)
Bui, 33, of San Jose, was charged with a single count of murder and was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. The criminal complaint includes several charging enhancements that could increase a potential prison sentence, including an allegation that “the crime involved an attempted or actual taking or damage of great monetary value.”
Duc Minh Bui, 33, of San Jose, has been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting of a co-worker on Sept. 20, 2023 at a VTA bus yard in San Jose. (Courtesy of the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office)
According to a probable cause affidavit submitted by sheriff’s Sgt. Hakeem Lee, a few days before the shooting, Teotico had told a friend that he and a co-worker — presumed to be Bui — were meeting in the employee lot of the bus yard around 9:30 p.m. Friday night to collect money Bui owed him from betting on football games.
The friend told investigators that Teotico had asked him to attend the meetup “make sure things went smoothly”; as he drove toward the lot, he saw Teotico sitting in his black Mercedes and talking to someone standing outside the car.
Before the friend reached the lot, he reported hearing two to three “bangs,” followed by the sight of a white car, which had previously been parked next to Teotico, suddenly driving past him. The friend briefly followed that car on South Seventh Street before turning back to go check on Teotico.
According to investigators, the friend found Teotico slumped backwards in the driver’s seat with the car door open. Responding emergency personnel observed multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced Teotico dead at the scene at 9:53 p.m.
Video surveillance showed that about 20 minutes earlier, Teotico pulled into the lot and parked, and the driver of a white Nissan Versa parked next to him, according to the affidavit. The two were then seen looking into the open car trunk of the Mercedes, after which Teotico closed the trunk and re-entered his car.
That was soon followed by the sight of a man since identified as Bui, wearing blue latex gloves and carrying a small black bag, open the passenger door of Teotico’s car. The affidavit alleges that Bui then pulled a black gun out of the bag and fired through the passenger compartment of the Mercedes.
Three .40-caliber bullet casings were recovered by investigators. The affidavit states that at least three VTA employees identified Bui as the shooter after watching surveillance footage.
Bui was arrested Sunday just after noon at his San Jose home, where investigators reported seizing three guns, including two Glock .40-caliber pistols. All of the weapons were registered to Bui.
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VTA General Manager Carolyn Gonot said at a Monday news conference that Teotico had worked for VTA for 10 years and was “a kind, hard-working driver who was well known amongst his colleagues,” and was the father of two teenage children.
Sheriff’s Capt. Sugey Jaimez said Monday that Bui had no criminal history in the county and that the initial investigation did not turn up warning signs about imminent violence, saying, “As far as we know, there (are) no red flags.”
The shooting has shaken the VTA workforce and broader community, as it evoked a disgruntled employee’s May 2021 massacre at a VTA railyard that ended with nine deaths and the shooter killing himself in what stands as the deadliest mass shooting in Bay Area history.
Anyone with information about Friday’s VTA shooting can contact the sheriff’s office at 408-808-4500 or the sheriff’s anonymous tip line at 408-808-4431.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
