LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WHAS11) -- A Facebook video showing a passenger attacking a TARC bus driver has been shared more than 900 times and viewed more than 35,000 times.
"It's kind of weird when you see a passenger and a bus driver get into a fight," Scarlett Rose, the woman who took the video, said.
Rose said she was riding the TARC bus Wednesday evening when a passenger got on at a stop at 34th and Market Streets. Rose said the passenger and bus driver were arguing over the bus fare when the driver said he was going to call police.
"After that, the guy swung on the bus driver and they started fighting," Rose said. "It was just that quick."
Rose, who was with her two children, said she pulled out her phone and started recording the fight. She said she did so to help the bus driver by proving he did not instigate the fight.
"It was the guy's fault," she said. "It wasn't the bus driver. He was just trying to protect himself and that's what happened."
"He's a little banged up, but he'll be okay, I think," TARC Executive Director Barry Barker, said. "It's tough when this happens."
Barker said TARC was not able to speak about the specifics of the case, but said TARC is investigating the incident.
"We're trying to reconstruct the whole thing and make sure we know what went on," he said.
TARC does have certain programs in place, including conflict resolution training for drivers and partnerships with local law enforcement, to promote driver and passenger safety, according to Barker.
"It's got our constant attention," he said. "We're constantly discussing it and revising our procedures."
The attack comes at a time when TARC is actively recruiting people to fill a shortage of bus drivers that has forced TARC to change certain routes.
According to Barker, this is the second assault of a driver this year - the first was back in February - but he said this is an exception rather than the rule. He said he hopes the incident does not deter people from driving for TARC or riding the buses.
"One is one too many, right? But we've had two this year, four last year, so it's not like it's a daily occurrence," he said."
Louisville Metro Police said the driver was taken to University Hospital with what appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries.
Police have not made any arrests in this case at this time.